Dragon Quest Creator Yuji Horii Wants Gemini Powered NPCs to Become Real Companions for Players
Square Enix’s AI push in Dragon Quest X is starting to look far more ambitious than a simple in game helper. During coverage tied to Google Cloud Next 2026, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii shared that his hopes for the Gemini powered Chatty Slimey go beyond tips, tutorials, or convenience. In comments reported by Toyo Keizai, Horii said he wants AI characters in games to become “not just a convenient tool, but a friend to each individual player.”
That statement gives important context to the partnership Square Enix and Google announced in March 2026. Chatty Slimey, known in Japanese as Oshaberi Slimey, is being developed as a conversational AI companion for Dragon Quest X, using Gemini and specifically Gemini Live for real time interaction. According to Toyo Keizai, the companion can respond based on a player’s chat, equipment, current play situation, and even analyze in game screenshots, making it more reactive than a standard menu based help system.
Horii’s comments make it clear that his interest in AI companions is rooted in a much older creative goal. He explained that when he first created Dragon Quest, he wanted town NPC dialogue to feel as close to real human speech as possible. Now that AI can answer players directly, he believes game characters can feel more human than before, though he also noted that simply replacing all town NPCs with AI would not be particularly interesting. That is a key distinction, because Horii is not pitching AI as a blanket replacement for authored design. He appears to be framing it as a way to deepen attachment and companionship inside a game world.
The most revealing part of the interview is how Horii describes the emotional role of these characters. He says that ordinary AI can feel awkward to treat like a friend, but a game character lowers that barrier, making it easier for people to open up and talk more naturally. He also suggested that AI characters could listen empathetically, discuss topics beyond the game itself, and potentially act as supporting companions while players explore. In that vision, a character like Chatty Slimey is not just there to explain mechanics or solve quest confusion. It becomes part guide, part mascot, and part emotional anchor.
That ambition also fits the way Chatty Slimey has been introduced so far. Reporting around the March reveal described the companion as a system that can react to outfit changes, enemy victories, and rare item discoveries while helping newer players feel less lost in a long running MMO that first launched in 2012. Toyo Keizai likewise notes that one of the driving challenges behind the feature is that Dragon Quest X has grown so large that new players may struggle to understand where to begin or what content they should tackle next. In that sense, the AI companion is designed to reduce friction, but Horii clearly hopes the relationship grows beyond onboarding.
From a broader industry standpoint, Horii’s comments stand out because they frame AI powered NPCs in a more personal and less performative way than many recent examples. Across the market, AI characters have often been treated like novelty features, experimental comedy tools, or reactive side attractions. Horii’s version is more idealistic. He is describing a future where AI characters could become genuine companions for beginners, teach players how to play, and remain memorable enough that players might still think of them as friends after logging off. Whether the technology can actually deliver that level of warmth and consistency is still an open question, but the intention is much more emotionally driven than the usual “look what AI can do” pitch.
There is still no publicly confirmed full release date for Chatty Slimey’s general rollout, though Toyo Keizai reports that limited testing for selected users took place in late March 2026. That means the real test is still ahead. Once the feature is fully deployed in Dragon Quest X, players will decide whether this kind of AI companion feels meaningful, distracting, charming, or unnecessary. Either way, Horii has now made the creative goal very clear: he does not want AI companions to feel like customer support with a slime face. He wants them to feel like someone worth talking to.
Would you want an AI powered NPC in an RPG to act as a true companion, or should game characters stay fully hand written?
