Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has praised the strides AI has taken in aiding game development while showing off a prototype he says took less than an hour to make.
Horii took to X to share his latest game, which can be played online for free. The game, which is a simple text-based interrogation title, was created solely through the use of AI prompting, with Horii explaining how much more work it would entail a few decades ago.
"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," Horii said, via translation on X. 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."
Horii has long been a supporter of AI and its ability to speed up game development, with the designer stating in an interview last year that he intends to introduce generative AI into his future games. Although he is now 72, Horii has worked on every mainline Dragon Quest since the series' inception, with his company, Armor Project, co-owning the franchise.
Although Horii was not involved, Dragon Quest was at the center of another initiative earlier this year. Publisher Square Enix entered into a deal with Gemini creator Google, promising to introduce an AI-powered partner to players of Dragon Quest X. The chatbot, named Chatty Slimely, is designed to provide help to players through text and voice chat, but will be exclusive to the Japanese-only MMO for now.