JRPGs as we know them wouldn’t exist without this obscure adventure game, and now it’s back as an AI chatbot

The Portopia Serial Murder Case, a Japan-only PC and NES game that indirectly led to the creation of such notable franchises as Dragon Quest and Metal Gear, is being revived by Square Enix in the form of a free-to-play AI chatbot.

April 23 will see the free-to-play Steam launch of – lemme make sure to get the full title here – Square Enix AI Tech Preview: The Portopia Serial Murder Case. As the title implies, this project will marry natural language processing technology to that original game, allowing you to more intuitively interact with the game’s NPCs in what appears to be the style of AI chatbots.