Yuji Horii, creator of the 'Dragon Quest' series, has released a free AI-developed mystery game. He stated that the project took 'about 30 minutes' to create.
On the 11th, Horii posted a link to 'Komiya in the Interrogation Room' (取調室の小宮) on his X account. It is a browser-based mystery adventure game shared via an Anthropic Claude Artifact link. Horii reflected on the days when he developed 'The Portopia Serial Murder Case' on classic PCs, handling the story, art, and programming all by himself, noting that today, simply giving instructions to an AI allows a single person to build a 'fairly decent game.'
Players take on the role of a police officer interrogating Komiya, a 72-year-old former locksmith and suspect in a pawnshop safe robbery case. Because Komiya lies, the core gameplay involves confronting his conflicting statements with evidence to dismantle his story. Komiya has "Agitation" and "Resistance" meters; if Resistance reaches 100, he exercises his right to remain silent, stalling the interrogation. Players must manage these meters while closing in on the truth.
The player's completion rating varies based on how many lies they manage to expose.
'The Portopia Serial Murder Case' is an adventure game designed by Horii and published by Enix in 1983, widely regarded as an early landmark title in Japanese adventure gaming. This is not the first time Portopia and AI have crossed paths. In April 2023, Square Enix released 'SQUARE ENIX AI Tech Preview: THE PORTOPIA SERIAL MURDER CASE' as a free title on Steam, incorporating natural language processing technology. Although it featured an AI system capable of interpreting player free-text input, low polish combined with restrictions stemming from various ethical issues prevented it from meeting expectations.
Meanwhile, a separate remake of the original game is currently underway. Announced last September, the new title features Horii as general director and adds a significantly expanded story, with plans to release in 2027 on Switch 2, Switch, and PC (Steam).
