{"id":66280,"date":"2026-05-07T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=66280"},"modified":"2026-05-07T15:37:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T06:37:17","slug":"dragon-quest-creator-wants-ai-game-characters-to-feel-like-real-friends-hopes-dq10-players-will-confide-in-slimey-chatbot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/dragon-quest-creator-wants-ai-game-characters-to-feel-like-real-friends-hopes-dq10-players-will-confide-in-slimey-chatbot\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragon Quest creator wants AI game characters to feel like real \u201cfriends,\u201d hopes DQ10 players will confide in Slimey\u00a0chatbot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Last month, Square Enix\u00a0and Google\u00a0announced that\u00a0they\u2019d\u00a0partnered to develop\u00a0Oshaberi Slimey (Chatty Slimey),\u00a0a Gemini-powered\u00a0AI chatbot set to be integrated\u00a0into\u00a0<strong>Dragon Quest X\u00a0<\/strong>in the role of\u00a0the player\u2019s\u00a0support character.\u00a0Speaking at the annual Google Cloud Next 2026 conference\u00a0recently\u00a0held\u00a0in Las Vegas, Dragon Quest series creator Yuji Horii\u00a0shed some\u00a0more\u00a0light\u00a0on his\u00a0expectations of AI \u201ccompanions\u201d in games\u00a0and why he\u2019s\u00a0so\u00a0on board with them becoming a thing not only in Dragon Quest, but\u00a0potentially\u00a0other series too.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As reported by&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/toyokeizai.net\/articles\/-\/942756?page=2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Toyo&nbsp;Keizai<\/a>,&nbsp;Horii views AI&nbsp;as \u201cnot just a convenient tool, but a friend to each&nbsp;individual&nbsp;player,\u201d&nbsp;capable of evolving the sense of adventure in RPGs.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When asked where the desire&nbsp;to implement&nbsp;Chatty&nbsp;Slimey into Dragon Quest X came from, he explains:&nbsp;\u201cWhen I first created Dragon Quest,&nbsp;I wanted the townspeople&nbsp;dialogue to sound as much like real human speech as possible.&nbsp;Now, AI can actually respond, so I think we can make them feel even more human.&nbsp;However,&nbsp;simply replacing townspeople with AI&nbsp;wouldn\u2019t&nbsp;be&nbsp;fun.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1319\" height=\"739\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1319px) 100vw, 1319px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260501-66280-header.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-66286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260501-66280-header.jpg 1319w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260501-66280-header-380x213.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/20260501-66280-header-768x430.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead,&nbsp;Horii&nbsp;opted for an AI side-companion that players can consult about in-game topics as well as other things, like an everyday AI&nbsp;assistant, but within&nbsp;the more inviting setting of a game character.&nbsp;\u201cWith&nbsp;regular&nbsp;AI, people can feel embarrassed&nbsp;about&nbsp;treating it like a friend, but if it\u2019s a game character, the barrier&nbsp;is lower, and people may find it easier to talk to&nbsp;about various topics.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Expanding on this point, Horii goes on to say, \u201cI think&nbsp;it\u2019s&nbsp;wonderful that [Slimey] can also listen to&nbsp;people\u2019s concerns&nbsp;with empathy&nbsp;and even talk about things unrelated to the game itself.&nbsp;I\u2019d&nbsp;like to explore&nbsp;ways for&nbsp;AI characters to&nbsp;accompany&nbsp;players as supporting companions while they play, which&nbsp;could&nbsp;then&nbsp;expand into other series too. AI characters could become an entry point that teaches beginners how to play, and even after leaving the game, players might&nbsp;come to&nbsp;consider them&nbsp;as&nbsp;friends.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response to the player\u2019s prompts,&nbsp;DQX\u2019s&nbsp;upcoming&nbsp;Chatty&nbsp;Slimey&nbsp;will offer advice about&nbsp;things like&nbsp;what content to interact with next or what equipment to use&nbsp;based on analysis of game progression, in-game screenshots,&nbsp;inventory&nbsp;and other factors. It will also support real-time voice interaction through&nbsp;Gemini Live, and based on Horii\u2019s remarks, will not limit prompts to strictly game-related topics. While a&nbsp;beta version was already&nbsp;tested, the official launch date is TBD.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related:&nbsp;<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/dragon-quest-9-and-10-director-says-yuji-horii-taught-him-the-important-lesson-that-dragon-quest-isnt-about-the-scenario\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Dragon Quest 9 and 10 director&nbsp;says Yuji Horii taught him the important lesson that \u201cDragon Quest isn\u2019t about the scenario\u201d<\/strong><\/a><strong><\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yuji Horii talks about why he wanted to implement an AI-powered character into Dragon Quest X and what he hopes to accomplish with the addition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":62575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[67,17],"class_list":["post-66280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-ai","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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