Koei Tecmo and Gust’s Atelier franchise has exploded in popularity globally in recent years, in part thanks to the success of Atelier Ryza and the design of the titular female protagonist, one its creators admit they deliberately made quite voluptuous in an effort to appeal to more players. While the developers themselves have moved on to other stories, releasing numerous Atelier games in subsequent years without this beloved character, Ryza’s continued popularity and visual appeal have contributed to making her the subject of Koei Tecmo’s latest generative AI experiment, designed to leverage fans’ feelings for her into a parasocial, free-to-start AI chatbot-driven RPG.
With over 50 percent of Japanese game companies experimenting with AI, some more than others, it’s no surprise that projects like this, which come from a partnership between Koei Tecmo and domestic AI startup Spiral AI, are being produced as companies seek to broaden the reach of their IP using this new technology. The new mobile spin-off packages these experiments into the form of an AI-fueled RPG featuring the most beloved Atelier character in the franchise, Ryza, now back for one more adventure, or simply as a chat companion.
Launched on iOS and Android earlier today in Japan, RyzaChat: AI returns to the original Atelier Ryza setting of Kurken Island as players use an open-ended chatbot to roleplay what developers describe as a near-unlimited number of personalized, generated quests with Ryza and other characters from the series. Alongside this RPG mode, a “Free Chat” mode allows you to befriend Ryza and conduct open-ended conversations. There’s even an ASMR mode, if you somehow need an artificial version of this character whispering in your ear.
The team calls the project an ethical AI adventure, saying that no chat logs from the game will be used to train future AI models, while the voice of Ryza is trained only on clips from the original Japanese voice actor. No generative AI art or models are used in-game either, with original artists returning to contribute new art for the game instead.
Still, between a subscription model (including bikinis and other subscriber-only costumes), alongside separate token payments needed in order to continue chatting beyond the limited free tokens provided, it certainly seems to be targeted at a very specific subset of the series’ fans, with plenty of room for exploitation if people become obsessed with their companion Ryza.
A global release is planned, and the Japanese version of the app already supports multiple languages including English, though a date for the international release is yet to be confirmed.