Square Enix has announced plans to introduce a new companion called 'Chatty Slimey' to the Japan-exclusive MMO Dragon Quest 10, who will respond to players with AI-generated text and voice chat.
As reported by Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun, this new companion is powered by Gemini as part of a collaboration with Google, and will not only respond directly to players, but also analyze on-screen information, such as if a rare item is collected or an enemy is defeated.
Dragon Quest 10 isn't the first game to try this, as Fortnite introduced an AI-powered Darth Vader companion as part of its Star Wars season last year. It served as the perfect example as to why AI characters do not work. Epic Games put several guardrails in place to prevent the late James Earl Jones from saying anything offensive, but players immediately found workarounds to manipulate the AI into repeating slurs and memes, sparking labor complaints from the actors' union SAG-AFTRA.
There will presumably be similar restrictions in Dragon Quest 10, though how effective they will be remains to be seen, considering how ineffective they have been in other titles.
What sets Chatty Slimey apart from Darth...
