Square Enix Plans Google Gemini Companion for Dragon Quest X

Dragon Quest X is getting a conversational AI companion

On March 21, 2026, Sankei reported that Square Enix will integrate Google Gemini into Dragon Quest X and add a companion feature that can talk with players. The company says the helper character, Oshaberi Suramii, will answer questions through chat, generate spoken replies automatically, and offer hints such as where a player should head next.

The report says the system also reads information from the game screen. That means the companion is not limited to reactive Q&A. It can also jump in after a player defeats a strong enemy or finds a rare item, which suggests Square Enix is trying to build a guidance layer that feels woven into play rather than bolted onto a menu.

Why the rollout matters for a long-running online RPG

Dragon Quest X first launched in 2012 and has been operating for more than 13 years. Sankei says the game still maintains hundreds of thousands of monthly users, but that the difficulty of onboarding new players has become a real challenge for the service. Development and operations lead Takashi Anzai said the goal is to give new players a personal companion so they do not feel lost or isolated while learning the game.

That framing is important. Many generative AI announcements in games focus on production tools or vague future ambitions. This one is being positioned as a player-facing support feature inside an already-running live service, which makes it easier to judge whether the technology improves the moment-to-moment experience or just adds novelty.

The beta will show whether players actually want this

Sankei says Square Enix plans to run a beta test and is accepting applications through March 30, 2026. The same report says Google Cloud is working with Square Enix on broader AI use, while series creator Yuji Horii is interested in applying AI to battle companions as well. Jack Buser of Google Cloud told Sankei he believes AI will have a major effect on player experience and could reshape games over the next 3 to 5 years.

Those claims should still be tested against real player behavior. If the feature mostly repeats obvious hints, players will ignore it. If it can smooth out friction for beginners in a famously long-running online RPG, it could become a reference point for how major Japanese publishers deploy conversational AI without turning it into a marketing gimmick.

Signal from r/Games

The linked r/Games post reached 795 points and 341 comments at crawl time. That is strong traction for a story about infrastructure and live-service design rather than a trailer or release date reveal.

Why this matters

Square Enix is testing whether generative AI can do something practical: reduce onboarding friction in a legacy online RPG that still wants fresh players. If the beta works, Dragon Quest X could become one of the clearest examples yet of a commercial game using Google Gemini as a gameplay-facing support layer instead of a hidden production tool.

Source: Sankei · Reddit discussion