wrote Terra's conversation with Riku early on development, wishing to explain the reason for Riku's ability to use the Keyblade, and he requested the staff in charge to make it into the game. The staff also wanted to emphasize the lack of coincidences in the series, leading to the characters' interaction between the three scenarios. Nomura recommended players to first play as Terra in Birth by Sleep in order to understand the story better. Terra's gameplay was also described by Nomura as "heavy" in comparison to Ventus's and Aqua's. To expand the connection between Terra and Riku, scenes foreshadowing future events involving Riku from Terra's perspective were added to the game, though Nomura has stated that these scenes are not of a precognitive nature. Nomura expects that in future games, the connection between both of them would be expanded. Ryōtarō Okiayu was chosen as Terra's Japanese voice actor as the staff wanted an actor who sounded similar to Chikao Ōtsuka, Xehanort's original voice actor, and Akio Ōtsuka, Xehanort's current voice actor who also voiced the villain while using Terra's body. The staff found Chikao's was a dry sort of voice, Akio's a deep, resonating sort of voice, and liked how Okiayu bore elements from both actors. Reception When Terra's character was first revealed, 1UP.coms Jeremy Parish found him to be very similar to Zack Fair from Final Fantasy VII to the point where he wondered whether he would actually be Zack. However, when considering Terra's weapon being a Keyblade in contrast to all the other Final Fantasy characters shown in previous Kingdom Hearts games, he thought he may not be Zack. Selecting Terra for a demo of Birth by Sleep IGNs Ryan Clements agreed with Parish, finding only minor differences between their outfits. Terra's role in Birth by Sleep has received mixed critics with Adam Ghiggino from PALGN criticizing his naive personality when finding the three protagonists unappealing. VideoGamer.com writer Emily Gera stated that players may know little about them due to their role in Kingdom Hearts II, but with Birth by Sleep, players will be able to know about them. Writing for GamesRadar, Crhis Antista commented that he did not understand the importance of him and the other characters being briefly featured in Kingdom Hearts II, although it could be explained once the player finishes Birth by Sleep. PlayStation LifeStyles Thomas Williams found the trio as welcome additions to