Legendary game designer Yuji Horii has highlighted the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence in game development by showcasing a new prototype created in under an hour.
Horii shared the free-to-play, text-based interrogation game on X, explaining that it was built entirely through AI prompting. Reflecting on how much the process has evolved over his career, Horii noted: “Long ago, when I made ‘The Portopia Serial Murder Case’ on a PC, I came up with the story myself, drew the pictures myself, did the programming myself, and created the game all by myself. And now, by using AI, even if I can’t draw pictures or program, I can just give instructions to the AI and create a decent game all by myself.”
The 72-year-old developer—who has worked on every mainline Dragon Quest title through his company, Armor Project—has been a vocal proponent of generative AI, expressing plans last year to incorporate the technology into future projects.
Horii’s experiment comes as the franchise continues to explore AI integration. Earlier this year, publisher Square Enix partnered with Google to bring an AI companion called "Chatty Slimely" to the Japanese MMO Dragon Quest X. Built on Google's Gemini tech, the chatbot offers real-time voice and text assistance to help players navigate the game.
What We Know So Far
TBA confirmed that the game is being built for TBA, with improved visuals, new mechanics, and environments designed around the storybook theme.
We wanted to create a world that feels like stepping into a storybook — full of wonder, surprises, and discovery around every corner.
— TBA
