Soulslike Dev Admits 'Effort Is Not There' After Vapor World Receives 25% Positive Steam Reviews Over AI Content

Vapor World: Over the Mind launched into Steam Early Access on Tuesday, August 18, following build-up that included over 100,000 wishlists from fans hoping for a 2D experience akin to Lies of P. However, the Soulslike platformer quickly met with significant backlash from players. The game currently averages 25% positive user reviews on Steam, with the vast majority of complaints centered squarely on its heavy use of generative artificial intelligence for voices and cutscenes.

Developer ALIVE Inc had previously included a Steam page disclosure noting that AI was utilized for voices and cutscenes, though not for live generation during actual gameplay. The disclosure added that all AI-assisted content was reviewed by the development team and shipped in a fixed, pre-rendered format. Despite this internal review process, players pointed out that the AI components were glaringly obvious and disrupted their experience.

In a recent Steam post, director Young Kim addressed the heavy reliance on generative AI, admitting to a severe miscalculation regarding player blowback. Kim explained that the team turned to AI because they believed it could reach a level of expression beyond their existing resources, allowing them to focus on the game itself rather than story and cinematics. Kim acknowledged that this was a hasty judgment, noting that unless generative AI leaps to a point where no one can tell the difference, relying on it was an ideal rather than a reality.

Kim made a striking admission regarding the production of the cutscenes, revealing that every cutscene was originally built as a full in-game cutscene before the team recently began replacing them with AI-generated versions. Kim stated that what players are currently seeing is the middle of that transition, conceding that if the game looks like the effort is missing, that is a fair reading of the screen. Conceding that the replacement call was wrong, Kim promised that the team will remove all AI cutscenes and fully replace them with original content by the upcoming weekend, noting that the original in-game versions already exist.