Square Enix has announced a collaboration with Google to introduce a new AI-powered character named Oshaberi Slimey into Dragon Quest 10, the Japan-exclusive massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Powered by Google’s Gemini AI model, this character will respond dynamically to player gameplay, offering tips, commenting on boss battle victories, and analyzing player fashion choices with real-time commentary. While the development team initially celebrated this as an innovative feature, the player community’s reception has been overwhelmingly negative.
Players Draw a Hard Line: “No AI Garbage”
Following the announcement, both Japanese and international player communities rejected the initiative almost unanimously. A Twitter thread garnering nearly 500 likes bluntly declared “We don’t need AI garbage in our game.” Other prominent responses were even more direct, with players explicitly expressing hope that they could “delete Slimey entirely.” Some commenters sarcastically noted the irony that while Dragon Quest 10 lacks official localization outside Japan, it apparently has room for AI-generated content.
Creator’s Vision Meets Player Reality
The AI Slimey character actually represents a long-held dream of Dragon Quest franchise creator Yuji Horii, who once imagined how engaging it would be to solve murder mysteries while interacting with an AI companion. However, the fanbase clearly does not share this vision. Many players consider adding a talkative Slime companion entirely unnecessary and view it as a decision that actively detracts from the game experience.
Despite Square Enix’s considerable effort to frame this feature as an integral part of their “living game” philosophy, the player response suggests they should have invested that creative energy elsewhere. Japanese players have suggested they’ll simply keep enjoying the game as-is in Japan, while international audiences continue waiting for official localization—not AI features. A common refrain across forums: “No thanks, we’re good.”
Square Enix’s Dragon Quest 10 gamble with AI integration appears to have backfired significantly in the eyes of its core audience. This incident underscores a growing tension in the Southeast Asian gaming market where players increasingly demand authentic, player-centric features over experimental AI systems. Rather than enhancing the experience, Oshaberi Slimey has become a case study in how not to integrate emerging technology into established gaming franchises—a cautionary lesson that may resonate across the region’s gaming studios now weighing similar AI additions to their own titles.