Much debate has ensued in the gaming industry over whether or not AI RPGs are a replacement for solo play. On the one hand: The AI systems have developed dramatically: they can deliver you a richer experience. A survey by GameIndustry in 2023 reported that biz, 68% of players said they enjoy playing RPGs solo because it allows them to explore and make personal choices without interference from others. AI-powered characters, on the other hand, are beginning to change this dynamic by providing more responsive, personalized interactions. NPCs in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) follow preset behavior scripts, though modders have added overlays of AI to create responsive figures with the kind of depth-of-feeling that makes them react like a real person; showing that AI can deliver a single-player alternative for more amazing interactions.
Recent advancements in AI-powered dialogue systems and emotional responses have also enabled NPCs to take on a more dynamic role when it comes to player engagement. For instance, Cyberpunk 2077 (2020) features AI that affects not only conversations but also the environment and world events based on the player’s decisions. More than 75% of players felt that their decisions had a direct emotional impact on the game world, a promising sign that AI can deliver a sense of personal agency that single-player games have used so successfully in the past.
While the technology is already pretty “with it,” AI RPGs will never be able to completely mirror the umaze of a solo play session. Proposed with machines does seem to be that when the only way to interact with a story is through a CT-based type of story where players are the one facilitating every change, freeing up the narrative means that no one of a machine’s abilities could possibly recreate such an experience. Games such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015) attempt to combat this by writing multiple directions the story can take based on player decisions, but the intricacy of genuinely solo-immersed storytelling is still lost on most AI-driven games. The linearity of games can still be seen in the advanced artificial intelligence of Mass Effect (2007), whose NPCs adapt their behaviour to the morality of players, but simply there, the fundamental story is governed by developers.
AI RPGs, for all their impressive solo-play mimicry, miss the same deep, open-ended narrative flexibility you get in a single-player experience. As John Carmack, one of the co-founders of id Software, once said, “The reason for the power of solo play is the pure freedom and personal connection to the game world. AI might amp up gameplay and help create more humanlike interactions, but for now, it’s not capable of replicating the emotional and narrative depth that a fully solo experience can provide.
So for now, even as AI RPGs really bring a whole load of cool new things to the RPG tabletop, none have yet proven themselves as a proper substitute to actually immersive solo play. Solo play can still deliver uniquely personal, untethered storytelling, while both AI systems and the ensemble can improve interaction. To learn more about this evolution, check out how Ai RPG is transforming gaming.