ChatGPT is the ultimate gaming tool - here's 4 ways you can use AI to help with your next playthrough

Super Mario Odyssey
(Image credit: Nintendo)

In my years as a gamer – stretching back to childhood afternoons blowing desperately into dusty Nintendo cartridges – I've watched countless tech innovations appear, dazzle briefly, and fade quietly away. Remember motion controls? Great for Wii bowling, less great for just about everything else. VR keeps promising to be revolutionary but always feels like it's still waiting in the wings. But artificial intelligence may have something that lasts longer.

That's probably why Microsoft is working on an AI "Copilot for Gaming," that will aid future Xbox players. But there’s no need to wait if you want to bring the power of AI to your next gaming session. ChatGPT can be a surprisingly pleasant companion on your gaming journey, here are a few ways I've deployed it to make playing video games more fun.

Game guide AI

Marvel's Spider-Man 2

(Image credit: Insomniac Games / Sony)

There was a time when official game guides were thick, glossy artifacts full of art and obscure easter eggs or enormous and often funny digital books written by paid games journalists. But these days, official guides are rare, and the investors in online guides mostly rely on messy wikis. The information you want is probably out there, but rarely in a cohesive and useful format.

Recently, while swinging through the streets of New York in Spider-Man 2 on my PS5, I decided to see if ChatGPT could recreate something resembling those classic guides, one that could chart every side mission, collectible, and hidden secret. I used the Deep Research tool to really delve into the internet and come back with more than just a single mission tipsheet. I asked the AI to "Create a personalized, comprehensive guide for completing Spider-Man 2 on PS5. Make sure it includes information on collecting suits, getting upgrades, and finding side-missions, so I don't miss anything."

Five minutes later I had a thorough game plan, with not just everything I should look for, but even what to prioritize at different stages of the story. I got optimal routes for collectibles, tips for efficiently earning upgrade tokens, and suggested combat approaches tailored to different types of encounters. I didn't need or want to follow its suggestions slavishly, but if I ever got confused or realized there was a blank in my costume options, it was right there to steer me to the solution.

Real-time guidance

Link crouches, looking out over Hyrule. A sky island can be seen floating in the background

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Open-world games offer freedom to do anything, but a sprawling fantasy RPG can sometimes almost be annoying if you simultaneously love them but also get impatient with them. While wandering the vibrant landscapes of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, I stood atop a floating island and felt stuck despite the options for shrines, side quests, and mysteries scattered across the horizon.

Just to break the paralysis, I asked ChatGPT, "I'm feeling unsure what to do in Tears of the Kingdom. Should I prioritize shrines, exploration, or push forward with the main story?" I soon had a nice breakdown of possible rewards, pacing, and general vibe of the options, and I immediately had my next four hours filled with fun rather than dithering from my island.

Game mechanics education

Hogwarts Legacy lets you ride a broomstick

(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Complex game mechanics are part of the fun of a video game, but sometimes they're a little too difficult to work out from a game's own description. I don't like switching to easy mode on games even in a game with that option, but that can leave me stuck failing over and over. Hogwarts: Legacy is no one's idea of an ultra-hard pro-gamer only game, but that doesn't mean the mastering spell combos, potions, and talent trees doesn't take at least some practice.

Frustrated after a particularly disastrous duel, I turned to ChatGPT for help. My prompt was: "I'm struggling with the spell system and combat combos in Hogwarts: Legacy. Can you clearly explain how I can combine different spells effectively without making it feel like studying for finals?"

Happily, ChatGPT didn't just mock me, but explained some intricate mechanics in simpler ways and suggested strategies to improve. The advice included showing the synergy of some spells, combos to try for different enemies, and other variations to try. Suddenly I was a capable wizard, rather than another confused Muggle.

The next game

best PS4 games: Kratos turning to look at the camera in God of War Ragnarok

(Image credit: Sony Santa Monica)

Ever stare at your gaming library or scrolled endlessly through digital stores, unable to choose a new game? ChatGPT can be your guide on that too. After completing God of War: Ragnarok, I was keen to find something similarly exciting. Online guides helped, but I didn't want to waste time or money so I asked ChatGPT for help with the prompt, "I loved God of War: Ragnarok, particularly the story, visceral combat, and mythology connection. Can you recommend something similar for my next game?"

ChatGPT recommended options like Horizon: Forbidden West and Ghost of Tsushima, explaining how each matched my preferences. ChatGPT didn't just throw random ideas my way, it had an explanation for each. Ghost of Tsushima turned out to fulfill my interests perfectly.

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Eric Hal Schwartz
Contributor

Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.

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