Game Company Reveals ‘Ai Chat RPG’ That’s Basically an Anime Girlfriend Simulator

SpiralAI and Koei Tecmo’s studio Gust just announced RyzaChat: Your Midsummer Dream Story with AI Ryza, an “AI chat RPG” set in the Atelier Ryza universe. It seems like a bit of a nightmare. According to Automaton, the iOS and Android game is entirely built aroundhaving conversations with an AI chatbot version of series protagonist Ryza.

The game begins with the player sending messages that help Ryza construct a boat to leave Kurken Island, which then unlocks a world map. From here, they are given AI-generated quests that they can complete through conversations. The game apparently features “exploration, material gathering, combat, synthesis, and construction alongside the full cast of characters from the original Atelier Ryza trilogy.” There is also a Chat Mode that allows players to talk with Ryza directly, and she can make different facial expressions and gestures in response to conversations.

Koei Tecmo recently announced that it was partnering with SpiralAI, a Japanese tech startup behind the large language model (LLM) Geppetto2. The LLM was revealed as a way to “safely deliver Japanese IP to the world.” As for RyzaChat, SpiralAI has said that the game was designed with measures to ensure the “responsible use of AI.” The company promised that it won’t include AI-generated video or images in the game, and that all illustrations, character portraits, promotional videos, and key visuals were created by human artists. The voice synthesis was created from recordings made by Ryza’s voice actress, Yuri Nohuchi, and the dialogue was trained on the Atelier Ryza series’ script and reference materials. SpiralAI promised that the revenue from the game will be shared with contributors, like the illustrators, voice actors, and IP holders, in the form of royalties.

However, while these guarantees address some of the moral compunctions related to AI, they don’t assuage all of them. For one, there have been several concerning reports of individuals becoming obsessed with AI-generated romantic partners, spending hours a day communicating with chatbots and becoming emotionally dependent on them. Considering that these games already sexualize Ryza quite a bit, seemingly as a marketing stunt (many fans refer to the series as “Atelier Thighza”), it’s fair to fear that some may fall down a rabbit hole with RyzaChat.

And beyond ethical issues around this controversial technology, the fact remains that most AI-chat-focused games simply aren’t very good. They inherently lack the direction and guidance of a human storyteller, regurgitating reference materials instead of crafting a purposeful story. Other game companies, like Ubisoft, have experimented with similar technology with lackluster results.