Enneagram of Personality
After crafting a story, Uchikoshi attempts to create a balanced cast of characters with regards to genders, personalities, and ages. He used the Enneagram of Personality as a reference while creating the characters for "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors" and "Virtue's Last Reward". He purposefully does not give the main character of the story a strong personality in order for the player to more easily empathize with them. Although the character dialogue is usually written with an international audience in mind, Uchikoshi will sometimes incorporate humorous or important lines aimed towards Japanese audiences. This style of writing can be seen in "Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors", as a vital plot point hinged on a Japanese pun, which forced the localization team to play through the entire game again to determine if the story still made sense in English.