Generative AI in video games
I'm a big fan of the Yo-kai Watch video games by LEVEL-5 (slice of life RPG meets monster collecting), so you'd think I'd be thrilled that they announced they're remaking Yo-kai Watch 2. I truly thought the series was dead when LEVEL-5 stopped localising the games in North America and they started to bomb in Japan due to oversaturation after they released approximately 8 billion games over the course of seven years.1 Yeah, you'd think I'd be shouting my excitement from the rooftops (I did tear up a little bit when I saw the news) and telling everyone I know about it, whether they cared or not. You'd think so… except for the big generative AI problem.
LEVEL-5's CEO and president, Akihiro Hino, has been a huge proponent of generative AI in game development. I only found this out recently, which is a damn shame because I've been a fan of LEVEL-5's games for ages.2 It really soured my enthusiasm for Yo-kai Watch's revival. After LEVEL-5's stream showcase last week was suffused with bad generative AI environments and avatars, my worries were only magnified when I started to see some really concerning generative AI markers in their promotional materials for both Yo-kai Watch and Holy Horror Mansion.
My feelings on the matter were so full up that I actually started writing an article about it.3 I finished the first draft of the article the other day and it outlines some of the suspect items like the above sidewalk segment and these weird powerlines:
I had sourced some articles going over how LEVEL-5 was using generative AI in their development, including using ChatGPT to concoct narrative-driven quests4 in their upcoming crime RPG, Decapolice. I definitely didn't want to cry wolf AI without information to back up my issues. Then something strange happened.
Akihiro Hino apologised for the AI usage. From his tweet, he linked to a statement on LEVEL-5's official site going over some of the problems the fans had brought up in the last week or so. My Japanese is pretty rudimentary so I had to rely on a Google translation of the site. LEVEL-5 did go over the powerlines from the image above, stating it's being mistaken for AI but was actually done by hand by their designer.
I am honestly not sure what I believe. I suppose it could have been human error, though it looks noticeably wrong. I guess there have also been artists who have accidentally put six fingers on a hand before too. (Not sarcasm, FYI.)
LEVEL-5 goes on to say — in summation — nuh-uh, you're wrong it's not AI but we're sowwy you're confused. To be fair, the tone and general feel of the statement is lost with Google translate, so I can only go off the translation I'm reading.
I feel icky about the whole thing, though. I don't know if I should finish my article after all. I would like to, but I'm not sure about LEVEL-5 or their methods anymore. They could be disingenuous or telling the bald truth — I really don't know. I guess I just don't trust the studio anymore. It's heartbreaking to see something you love so much go through the ringer and come out with the stink of generative AI on it. I almost wish Yo-kai Watch had stayed dead.
Okay, so it's only 20 games over seven years, but that's still a lot.↩
Fantasy Life is another LEVEL-5 series I've loved since its inception on the 3DS.↩
I'm starting to Do The Thing I mentioned in my post about changing the system! I'm trying to write more serious articles to be published on my website! It's exciting when The Thing actually happens.↩
In all fairness to Hino, I've only found this one article without further sources. Hino has never addressed this concern from what I can find.↩