What would you change about KH:Days storyline?

[magic713]

Would you change a lot, or a little? Characters? And such.

This one initially disappointed me. Not because the story, itself, was bad, but because I expected something different. Ignoring the repetitive gameplay (since this thread is more of the story) I do like the plot of the three lead characters. But what I expected was that we might delve a little more into the inner workings of the Organization, such as what other members contribute to the group. I am also disappointed we didn't get to see much interaction with the CoM group and them interacting with the other members. Plus, I'm not much of a fan of the prequel trope of "these events/person happened but no one remembers".

[And this one is a small nitpick, but I am not a fan of a 14th member in Organization XIII. I would have preferred Xion introduced after the CO team was destroyed and have her appear to be a "recruit" or "candidate" that Roxas is training or bonding with]

 

[Elysium]

I think I'd prefer if Xion didn't exist and the story was more what I had expected--Roxas interacting with the other Organization members. Or at least even if Xion is there, they shouldn't have made the trio suck all the oxygen up. They should've shown the CoM members interacting with the 2 members more. Admittedly it was a short time frame before they get wiped out, but still. Roxas should've been less dense, too. It didn't really gel with my impression of him in 2 at all.

 

[Zackarix]

Streamline Roxas and Xion into a single character named "Roxas"

But seriously Roxas and Xion have way too much overlap. They're both the new Keyblade-wielding member of Organization XIII who has no memories of their past prior to joining. Eventually they discover that they came from Sora and must return to him so he can wake up. If they both went on journeys of self discovery the overlap would be even worse, and Xion's inclusion needs to be justified so she's the one who gets the big arc while Roxas is reduced to reacting to whatever happened to her. This is just sad for a game that was supposed to be about fleshing out Roxas.

And yet despite this I think Xion's origins make a certain amount of sense. Now Vexen no longer pulls the Riku replica out of nowhere, instead he's part of a larger project. And considering that having a Keyblade wielder is essential to the Organization's plans it makes sense that they were working on building their own before Roxas was unexpectedly dropped into their laps.

So my take on Days would involve a different replica: Voda, a replica of Aqua created using data collected from her armor. Like Repliku she knows that she's a replica from the beginning. She's not a member of O13 because as Namine established you don't have to be a member to be exploited by them.

Voda would play a very different role in Roxas's story than Xion: a foil instead of a best friend. She's everything that O13 want Roxas to be and because she exists he's not irreplaceable. She's unshakably loyal to Xemnas and O13. She's never rude to Roxas herself, but she's still a threat for what she represents.

And when DDD and KH3 roll around guess who's a member of the true Organization XIII?

 

[MATGSY]

-Better Disney involvement. The rule about Org members needing to stay undercover as a means of preserving continuity doesn't really hold up on a case by case basis. OrgXIII wasn't in Halloween Town in KH2, Neverland & Wonderland weren't in that game at all, & Roxas actually did interact with Herc & Phil, who never mistook him for Ven. At this point, might as well just go ahead & have more interactions anyway.

On that note, the only Disney bosses in this game are Pete & the 3 HT kids. Yeesh, I didn't think a KH game could even get away with that few. At least have Hades & Hook fights. The game's fine with recycling heartless bosses so much yet draws the line on those 2? Maybe the Queen of Hearts growing giant sized? But there's 2 in particular to call out:

-1. Roxas & Xigbar should've found Jafar's lamp. A lingering plothole from KH2 is why no one wants to make use of the wish granting genie to actually grant wishes. Jafar could make any of the org members whole again, or give them the real KH & X-Blade. But they, & Maleficent/Pete, don't seem to care for some reason. I'd have it that Roxas finds the lamp, becomes Jafar's master, & wishes for things for things like Axel coming back (as this is during when Axel was believed to have been eradicated in CoM's events. Hell, maybe he was & this is actually how he survived). Meanwhile, Xigbar is trying to dissuade Roxas from this & tricking him into making wishes that suit him instead, & Jafar is scheming against both & trying to find a way out of serving them. It all eventually leads to a big blow up with Roxas having to fight Jafar after the wishes are used up. Afterwards the whole organization decides Jafar isn't worth the trouble he brings & further pursuit of genies is banned.

-2. We strangely never actually see Xaldin's first meeting with Beast, despite that being the whole reason for that world's inclusion! Why would Beast even listen to Xaldin to begin with? Xaldin would had to have done something to earn the Beast's trust, like say saving his life from Gaston's attack for example. To make this more interesting, Xaldin would be the one who arranged for this attack to happen in the 1st place. In a cutscene at the start of the mission, Xaldin appears before Gaston in his Dilan RG guard uniform, this way Gaston won't recognize him when he appears later in org coat with hood up. Xaldin gives Gaston the heads up on Belle being the "prisoner" of the Beast & maybe even give Gaston command over the heartless so he'd have an army to attacks the castle with. After Roxas & hooded Xaldin save the Beast's life & defeat Gaston in battle, Xaldin executes Gaston as this pawn outlived his usefulness. Boom, we'd get another Disney boss, the world actually lives up to it's reason for inclusion, AND more characterization for an underutilized org member in 1 fell swoop!

-On a general whole, the Story Mode is too long & padded while Mission Mode had nothing new to experience. Square in fact cut a lot of stuff out including a whole Pinocchio world just to keep Story Mode from getting even more padded. The pragmatic solution would've been to have more Mission Mode-exclusive missions/story. Trim the main campaign to just the core essentials & let MM's "holo-memory" cutscenes fill in the rest. This would serve as an opportunity to rework the cut content, maybe even giving the game a full 358 days worth of mission but having 300 of them as MM exclusive. I always felt Crisis Core had the better template to follow with story & missions.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

Don't scrap the Pinocchio world for starters. Given the themes and development it could have represented for certain characters I'm still shocked they didn't want to make room for it.

Introduce Christmas Town. Show how Jack meets Santa Claus prior to KH2 since we already have Halloween Town. The Leech Grave could have even sprouted there too. Plus Roxas discovers a holiday.

Keep Megara and Hades. Both their portraits are in the games coding. This could be were Meg meets Hercules before KH2. Maybe introduce some of Hades lesser non-titan monsters in the coliseum like the river centaur.

During Roxas/Axel run in with Riku/Xion it's a boss fight. Xion flees, Riku blocks the path you fight him and defeat him. Riku escapes but is injured taking him out of the equation until the end. I add this only because it's implied in KH2 that Riku fought Roxas twice? This spot right here was prime for the first fight, considering you can attack and wail on Riku until he runs away, but cannot actually damage him gameplay wise.

Introduce Xion after the COM team are gone. She's made beforehand but kept in a sleeping tube with Xemnas unsure if they need a Replica. I would do a one-two combination of the COM team dying and Roxas almost losing against a earlier tough opponent, (maybe a mandatory Zip Slasher) Xemnas now wants the backup keyblade wielder as well as a scientific experiment of a Sora Nobody vs a Sora Replica.

Trying to recruit new members. This was teased at in Olympus with Xigbar but never followed up. This should have been a major plot point in Days since Organization XIII is really just Organization VIII. They need to restock numbers. As said above, Xion is not number 14 but takes one of the COM teams numbers and seats, probably one of the lower ranks held by Larxene. This could have shown more of how the Organization works with selecting members and what qualities they see in a member, what useful skills they bring to the group, and why they are either high up or low in the pecking order. Beast is already a target for Xaldin, why not try and target the likes of Aladdin or Hercules? How about magical beings like Hades or Genie? Again this was teased but not followed up and I wanted it.

Unlockable story modes. I realize that might sound like a lot for thirteen plus characters. But at the very least Riku, Axel, and Xion should have had story modes unlocked after completing Roxas's story. There's no real problem with Xion interacting with more Disney characters given what happens to her. Since Roxas got Phil in Olympus she could meet Megara alternatively and watch how she interacts with Hercules. A popular one is Xaldin meeting Beast beforehand which would have been nice setup. This would also show what the Organization members not paired with Roxas do in other worlds. With Riku his story section in addition to spying on Org members could also be trying to make amends to the Disney characters he hurt by helping them from the shadows similar to how he did with Sora in KH2. Prime ones are Jasmine who he kidnapped, Beast and Belle, and maybe even something in Neverland that would require Peter and Wendy to show up and help in secret.

Have the Organization actually do some evil stuff. With Roxas and Xion they are mainly doing heart collection which benefits the worlds more then it hurts. But for Axel and the others? Let's have them destroy a lesser Disney World that Nomura and team know they 100% will never want to use. Axel does get icky jobs after all.

Dusk, Samurais, and other Nobody minions are summons. Obviously the Nobodies are summoned for the ones they serve under. This would finally give Lexaeus, Vexen, and Zexion minions.

It's own Disney worlds. I honestly didn't mind the Disney worlds they selected for Days given what they did for Roxas's growth. But it would have been cool to see some new Disney worlds in Days that hadn't been in KH1 and KH2.

And finally a 100 Acre Woods world! Yes, I said it! This world would have been perfect for Roxas and/or Xion to enter because they would have taken the Pooh games too seriously and learning from the likes of Winnie the Pooh when you are still learning how the world works is too good to pass up.

 

[Sign]

During Roxas/Axel run in with Riku/Xion it's a boss fight. Xion flees, Riku blocks the path you fight him and defeat him. Riku escapes but is injured taking him out of the equation until the end. I add this only because it's implied in KH2 that Riku fought Roxas twice? This spot right here was prime for the first fight, considering you can attack and wail on Riku until he runs away, but cannot actually damage him gameplay wise.

They seem to consider Roxas's encounter with Riku in The World That Never Was as having 2 stages: before and after he transforms into Ansem.

 

[Elysium]

Don't scrap the Pinocchio world for starters. Given the themes and development it could have represented for certain characters I'm still shocked they didn't want to make room for it.

Yeah, I'm still shocked they cut Pinocchio over Wonderland or Halloween Town? That doesn't make any sense. Pinocchio matched up with the story so well, what with Pinocchio being lied to and abused by so many different individuals with their own agenda. Especially if they focused on the carnival area where children are turned into donkeys / slave labor. I feel like Wonderland was only included because the world suits Luxord and we know Nomura has a fascination for the character (that I have never shared).

I lovelovelove MATGSY's idea of Roxas and Xigbar finding Jafar's lamp and basically enacting that part of The Return of Jafar ("You'd be surprised what you can live through."). That's kind of an ingenious idea.

Trying to recruit new members. This was teased at in Olympus with Xigbar but never followed up. This should have been a major plot point in Days since Organization XIII is really just Organization VIII. They need to restock numbers. As said above, Xion is not number 14 but takes one of the COM teams numbers and seats, probably one of the lower ranks held by Larxene. This could have shown more of how the Organization works with selecting members and what qualities they see in a member, what useful skills they bring to the group, and why they are either high up or low in the pecking order. Beast is already a target for Xaldin, why not try and target the likes of Aladdin or Hercules? How about magical beings like Hades or Genie? Again this was teased but not followed up and I wanted it.

I've always thought this was a missed opportunity in so many of the worlds in KH2 and Days. Xaldin and the Beast is really the only one that utilizes it--and only in KH2, as mentioned we unfortunately don't see their first meeting in Days.

I like the idea of Xion interacting with Megara as well, what with Megara being Hades' slave and all. Xion being used to harm Roxas is similar to how Meg is used to target Hercules. Both Megara and Xion die in order to save Hercules and Roxas respectively, too, now I think of it.

 

[SweetYetSalty]

Yeah, I'm still shocked they cut Pinocchio over Wonderland or Halloween Town? That doesn't make any sense. Pinocchio matched up with the story so well, what with Pinocchio being lied to and abused by so many different individuals with their own agenda. Especially if they focused on the carnival area where children are turned into donkeys / slave labor. I feel like Wonderland was only included because the world suits Luxord and we know Nomura has a fascination for the character (that I have never shared).

As much as I love Halloween Town in any KH game I think it's presence in Days was...I don't want to say wasted but not used to the fullest potential. Which is why it was such a missed opportunity to introduce the Christmas Town half as well. How great would it have been for Roxas learn about Christmas and to put a Christmas Tree in the Grey Area? There was also a missed opportunity to compare Dr. Finkelstein with Vexen since both are scientist who create living puppet dolls. This could have played into can manmade creations like Sally and Xion have hearts given how they were born and fit the lacking heart theme so well. By KH2 he said Sally had a heart but explore it here first. Have the Organization be interested in Sally for that reason. Maybe even consider using Dr. Finekelstein's experiments to complete the Replica Program with Vexen gone.

But the Pinocchio world was perfect for Days and I'm still sad it wasn't used given it's artificial life to real life theme. Especially if they added the Blue Fairy to the Nobody and Replica mythos. Oh what could have been.

I like the idea of Xion interacting with Megara as well, what with Megara being Hades' slave and all. Xion being used to harm Roxas is similar to how Meg is used to target Hercules. Both Megara and Xion die in order to save Hercules and Roxas respectively, too, now I think of it.

I'm kinda embarrassed, because I totally missed the Xion/Meg thing you just mentioned. I just wanted to recreate the Roxas/Phil dynamic, which to this day is the most underrated Roxas bond of all time. But taking into account their roles in story, I want a Xion/Megara dynamic even more now. Plus Xion won't understand Meg's sarcasm so that'll make the interactions hilarious to watch.

They seem to consider Roxas's encounter with Riku in The World That Never Was as having 2 stages: before and after he transforms into Ansem.

They do? That's a strange way to view that fight but okay lol.

 

[Sign]

They do? That's a strange way to view that fight but okay lol.

Yeah, I don't get it either lol. Could be they just forgot about that line while they were working on Days and left us bending over backwards trying to justify it lol

 

[disney233]

As much as I love Halloween Town in any KH game I think it's presence in Days was...I don't want to say wasted but not used to the fullest potential. Which is why it was such a missed opportunity to introduce the Christmas Town half as well. How great would it have been for Roxas learn about Christmas and to put a Christmas Tree in the Grey Area? There was also a missed opportunity to compare Dr. Finkelstein with Vexen since both are scientist who create living puppet dolls. This could have played into can manmade creations like Sally and Xion have hearts given how they were born and fit the lacking heart theme so well. By KH2 he said Sally had a heart but explore it here first. Have the Organization be interested in Sally for that reason. Maybe even consider using Dr. Finekelstein's experiments to complete the Replica Program with Vexen gone.

But the Pinocchio world was perfect for Days and I'm still sad it wasn't used given it's artificial life to real life theme. Especially if they added the Blue Fairy to the Nobody and Replica mythos. Oh what could have been.

SO MUCH OF THIS. As I said in my KH1 thread, I wanted the idea of teasing the Organization early by having a shrouded Vexen overlook & oversee Dr. Finklestein's creations. there is...such MISSED potential in regards to the Organization & Halloween Town. Which is why, as aesthetically pleasing as it is, Halloween Town...to me kind of seems like a result of potential wasted. In regards to the Nobody side of things, they really missed the ball with both the Blue Fairy & Dr. Finklestein.

 

[Zackarix]

I like the idea of Vexen and Dr. Finklestein, but it wouldn't have fit into Days because they decided to have the CoM crew leave for Castle Oblivion as soon as possible.

They could have done more with most of the members. It's kind of weird that they made a game where the entire Organization XIII is playable but the only characters who got any real development are RAX and to a lesser degree Saix. Even with half the cast being written out early they could have done something with the other half.

Like Xaldin. Beast's Castle exists as a world to flesh out the history between him and the Beast but we don't learn why Xaldin is so focused on the Beast specifically. Maybe there was a traumatic divorce in Dilan's past that he's still not over. Or maybe Xaldin is a jealous furry.

 

[Soldier]

Don't scrap the Pinocchio world for starters. Given the themes and development it could have represented for certain characters I'm still shocked they didn't want to make room for it.

Trying to recruit new members. This was teased at in Olympus with Xigbar but never followed up. This should have been a major plot point in Days since Organization XIII is really just Organization VIII. They need to restock numbers. As said above, Xion is not number 14 but takes one of the COM teams numbers and seats, probably one of the lower ranks held by Larxene. This could have shown more of how the Organization works with selecting members and what qualities they see in a member, what useful skills they bring to the group, and why they are either high up or low in the pecking order. Beast is already a target for Xaldin, why not try and target the likes of Aladdin or Hercules? How about magical beings like Hades or Genie? Again this was teased but not followed up and I wanted it.


Have the Organization actually do some evil stuff. With Roxas and Xion they are mainly doing heart collection which benefits the worlds more then it hurts. But for Axel and the others? Let's have them destroy a lesser Disney World that Nomura and team know they 100% will never want to use. Axel does get icky jobs after all.

Dusk, Samurais, and other Nobody minions are summons. Obviously the Nobodies are summoned for the ones they serve under. This would finally give Lexaeus, Vexen, and Zexion minions.


And finally a 100 Acre Woods world! Yes, I said it! This world would have been perfect for Roxas and/or Xion to enter because they would have taken the Pooh games too seriously and learning from the likes of Winnie the Pooh when you are still learning how the world works is too good to pass up.

So a few things.

I agree 100% with the Pinocchio world being used for this game. It also would show that Sora and co's efforts at the End of the world did indeed bear fruit as it is established right at the beginning that the world was lost due to the heartless.

Restocking the numbers is more difficult than you think Mr. Salty, as it is implied that the "human looking" nobodies are VERY rare if not downright elusive. That's why the organization didn't really prioritize looking for new members to add to the roster, as they have enough people to assign tasks. Lesser nobodies like Samurai and dusks are a dime a dozen though.

If i recall correctly, isn't it kind of hard to destroy a world post KH? I remember reading somewhere that following the DTD being sealed the worlds hid their keyholes again so that this situation wouldn't happen again.

I agree, the world would be perfect for them, if only for the fact that it is considered a "treasure" in Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden, kept safe by Merlin as it is in essence a portable world. The organization getting their hands on it would effectively be like giving them an entire planet. And given that most of the organization aren't saints they would have more sinister intentions towards the world's inhabitants.
(Also, Merlin's aware of the danger the nobodies pose, so chances are he'd be on guard looking out for Roxas if he were to get anywhere near it).

 

[SweetYetSalty]

I like the idea of Vexen and Dr. Finklestein, but it wouldn't have fit into Days because they decided to have the CoM crew leave for Castle Oblivion as soon as possible.

You don't have to have them meet to make the comparison. Vexen's experiments are still active long after he's gone. Xemnas, Saix or Xigbar could be the ones interested in Dr. Finklestein and make the Vexen connection since their experiments are largely the same of creating artificial life. This world was prime for the scientist side of Organization XIII. Also Roxas should have mistook the folks in Halloween Town as Heartless, since most are monsters. Would have been amusing.

Restocking the numbers is more difficult than you think Mr. Salty, as it is implied that the "human looking" nobodies are VERY rare if not downright elusive. That's why the organization didn't really prioritize looking for new members to add to the roster, as they have enough people to assign tasks. Lesser nobodies like Samurai and dusks are a dime a dozen though.

I know, but they should have at least tried. Obviously they wouldn't turn Beast, Hercules, Aladdin and the others into Nobodies, but have them try to restock because otherwise why are they "Organization XIII?" At one point Saix does say they are shorthanded after the COM team is wiped out, so this should have been a subplot. Even if it ends in failure it would have been a cool to have. Also I prefer Mr. Salty-Sama if you please

I agree, the world would be perfect for them, if only for the fact that it is considered a "treasure" in Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden, kept safe by Merlin as it is in essence a portable world. The organization getting their hands on it would effectively be like giving them an entire planet. And given that most of the organization aren't saints they would have more sinister intentions towards the world's inhabitants.
(Also, Merlin's aware of the danger the nobodies pose, so chances are he'd be on guard looking out for Roxas if he were to get anywhere near it).

I would want Pooh to always greet them as "Nobodies-I-don't-know" before playing their minigames.

 

[MATGSY]

Restocking the numbers is more difficult than you think Mr. Salty, as it is implied that the "human looking" nobodies are VERY rare if not downright elusive. That's why the organization didn't really prioritize looking for new members to add to the roster, as they have enough people to assign tasks. Lesser nobodies like Samurai and dusks are a dime a dozen though.

So it's just a mighty convenient coincidence 8 of them are from 1 world, 6 of them apprentices of Ansem, 2 more being from the past, etc? Plus we've heard about Xemnas turning nobodies into dusks despite never seeing it. My takeaway is there's actually loads of human-looking nobodies but Xemnas is extremely picky who he wants in the club & demoted the rest.

 

[Soldier]

So it's just a mighty convenient coincidence 8 of them are from 1 world, 6 of them apprentices of Ansem, 2 more being from the past, etc? Plus we've heard about Xemnas turning nobodies into dusks despite never seeing it. My takeaway is there's actually loads of human-looking nobodies but Xemnas is extremely picky who he wants in the club & demoted the rest.

That's more intended as a sort of humiliating punishment than anything else. I always took the whole "nobody creation" to be similar to heartless creation (the more darkness in the heart, the stronger the heartless). So the resulting empty husk would be determined by will, I guess.

 

[Zackarix]

Axel should have had a stronger character arc filling in the gaps his development from CoM to KH2. Don't just allude to him changing with the "you've changed" comment, show him changing by having him be different at the beginning and end of the story.

I know some people defend his characterization in Days by saying that he was deliberately hiding that part of himself from the kids. But even if that was the intention something more could have been done with it. Like having them find out anyway and exploring the effect it has on their friendship.

 

[Deleted member 246005]

I'd probably scrap the interquel angle. As a Roxas fan, I just never felt it was necessary to know.

I'd retool it into a game set in the present. Roxas's time in the Organization does allow for an inciting incident but it leads into a new plot. Sora has to investigate and put the pieces together. I grew to hate Sora as a character so this is me trying to fix him in a believable way.

Xion still exists but I rather scrap the replica stuff. I'd make her a regular nobody who joins after CoM. She's also Aqua's younger sister.

This should happen after DDD.

I also wrote a Riku version of Days in a different thread. Xion was a DiZ created replica who defects to the Organization. Her death weighs heavily on his conscience and provides subtext for his actions in KH2. His inability to deal with his guilt is why he lost control during the Roxas fight. It's also why he avoids Sora during KH2 and why he wasn't planning on returning to Destiny Islands.

This is still an interquel but you can retool it into a game in the modern day. I wanted to use time travel as a framing device.

Option C is a Lea based prequel showcasing the early days of the Organization. Relena is one of Lea's friends from Radiant Garden. Isa/Lea/relena become an example of a failed friendship- they are the Dark trio.

 

[Vulpes XIII]

Roxas should of had a chance to interact with the members who were in Chain of Memories a bit more, they should of delayed them heading to Castle Oblivion by a few days so we could of went on 1 more mission with each of them so we could see more of their interactions with Roxas

Remove the fights with Ruler of the Sky and LeechGrave.

 

[Zackarix]

Xion still exists but I rather scrap the replica stuff. I'd make her a regular nobody who joins after CoM. She's also Aqua's younger sister.

Make her Saix's younger sister. To better explain why he can't stand her.

 

[KingdomKurdistan]

Have character development and bonding that aren't eating parkour ice cream and laughing maniacly at the fact ice cream is icy.