Xion was pointless on purpose theory

[*TwilightNight*]

.

I was just stating my opinion and what I remember seeing way back when Days was brand new. People were complaining that Namine should have played a larger role in Days, to tie in her actions in KH2. They also felt slighted because Xion came in and stole screentime from Namine and Axel (and others).

I was around when Days came out, in fact, I've been here ever since KHII came out. Majority of the complaints were that she was a random, retcon character that was forced into the two popular male characters of the Organization and made it a trio that hadn't existed beforehand. She sounded like a Mary Sue straight out of 14th member fanfictions that were prevalent back then as wish fulfillment/self inserts (lo and behold, find out who those ended up being friends with...I'm sure it's clear). Didn't help that it really became a canon thing and Xion was Tomoco Kanemaki's idea/creation/little baby, giving her black hair just because she wanted a girl with black hair despite it making no sense with what Xion's origins are unless Sora was color blind. It's a self insert like the rest of the fanfictions were, with the only difference being that Tomoco had the connections to make it a reality. Xion played the entire thing as expected, including having a sad theme playing over her TragicDeath™ because of course. Oh yeah, she suffered too, feel sad for her audience.

Trust me, I was within the horde. There was the Xion Hate Club when clubs were actually alive. I know what I'm talking about. If it still exists, take a look at it yourself.

Maybe people thought Naminè should be involved, since, you know, she was an existing character and was an actual Nobody already connected to Organization XIII, but that's, one, sensible thinking instead of the convoluted replica concept that it turned out to be, and two, that was very minor and hardly the crux of Xion's superfluous existence that rubbed everyone the wrong way.

I love Namine-

Uh-huh.

-but there are fans that got pissed off that Xion was getting more action than her in the nobody themed game. It's understandable because Xion got one of the best (and actually completed) story arcs in the entire KH series - all in her debut. Meanwhile Namine has gotten nothing for over a decade. Don't blame me for Xion getting an amazing story and Namine left with crumbs in ReMIND.

Your subjective view of Xion's story or arc doesn't make it factual, which is how you're coming off in case you come in saying I'm accusing you of [insert here]. There are a bunch of others who thought it was a rehash and it did not resonate with them. Furthermore, Naminè actually developed and had her own narrative that expanded over several games instead of being self contained in one, and actually did more plot progressive actions than Xion did, enough to turn the tides in KHIII. Hell, Xion was relegated to cameos and has done nothing else of value since Days. Her relevance relies on Roxas and Axel giving a shit about her rather than the plot. So I don't know what your attempt here was by throwing Naminè under the bus, but it was ineffective :|.

So you think Nomura is mediocre but you've been on a forum about a game he made for 15 years?

Even fans have admitted he's mediocre and suggest to turn your brain off to play the game, so yes, I can state whatever I want about the matter, especially since I had invested time and money into the series. If you have an issue with that, feel free to join the forum police I guess.

But really, where in the rule does it say we have to think Nomura is a great writer and KH is the epitome of quality narrative?

 

[Sign]

Xion's far from the most hated character, but her fans and criticizers are equally as aggressive so discussions often appear one way or the other. I think most people like her fine but she is undeniably very divisive.

I feel like Nomura is biased towards male characters because he prefers them. Remember he called Noctis and Sora his sons.

He's only referred to these two as such because they're the main characters of his brainchildren, though Sora is the only one who he still considers his son for obvious reasons.

 

[2 quid is good]

Xion's far from the most hated character, but her fans and criticizers are equally as aggressive so discussions often appear one way or the other. I think most people like her fine but she is undeniably very divisive.

Well now I'm wondering who is the most hated character, if not Xion, despite recent events I doubt it's Kairi, honestly even Terra has his fans. Guess we wait for another Japanese opinion poll for the definitive answer

 

[*TwilightNight*]

Well now I'm wondering who is the most hated character, if not Xion, despite recent events I doubt it's Kairi, honestly even Terra has his fans. Guess we wait for another Japanese opinion poll for the definitive answer

The situation with Kairi is that while it was fun to massively hate her for her lack of character writing, it's gotten so bad in the series that now it's turning into sympathy.

 

[2 quid is good]

The situation with Kairi is that while it was fun to massively hate her for her lack of character writing, it's gotten so bad in the series that now it's turning into sympathy.

For me it's in the "so bad it's funny" category at this point, and more to the point of this thread, I'm really not a fan of theories that try to put forward lack of quality within a game as a 4d chess play from Nomura. I'm not gonna stop anyone from having their fun making them up but none of them really hold any water. When it comes to Kairi I've seen plenty that try to reframe what was done to her in KH3 as an intentional part of her arc, but of course, us plebs just aren't able to comprehend the true meaning behind KH writing

 

[Face My Fears]

.


I was around when Days came out, in fact, I've been here ever since KHII came out. Majority of the complaints were that she was a random, retcon character that was forced into the two popular male characters of the Organization and made it a trio that hadn't existed beforehand. She sounded like a Mary Sue straight out of 14th member fanfictions that were prevalent back then as wish fulfillment/self inserts (lo and behold, find out who those ended up being friends with...I'm sure it's clear). Didn't help that it really became a canon thing and Xion was Tomoco Kanemaki's idea/creation/little baby, giving her black hair just because she wanted a girl with black hair despite it making no sense with what Xion's origins are unless Sora was color blind. It's a self insert like the rest of the fanfictions were, with the only difference being that Tomoco had the connections to make it a reality. Xion played the entire thing as expected, including having a sad theme playing over her TragicDeath™ because of course. Oh yeah, she suffered too, feel sad for her audience.

Trust me, I was within the horde. There was the Xion Hate Club when clubs were actually alive. I know what I'm talking about. If it still exists, take a look at it yourself.

Maybe people thought Naminè should be involved, since, you know, she was an existing character and was an actual Nobody already connected to Organization XIII, but that's, one, sensible thinking instead of the convoluted replica concept that it turned out to be, and two, that was very minor and hardly the crux of Xion's superfluous existence that rubbed everyone the wrong way.



Uh-huh.



Your subjective view of Xion's story or arc doesn't make it factual, which is how you're coming off in case you come in saying I'm accusing you of [insert here]. There are a bunch of others who thought it was a rehash and it did not resonate with them. Furthermore, Naminè actually developed and had her own narrative that expanded over several games instead of being self contained in one, and actually did more plot progressive actions than Xion did, enough to turn the tides in KHIII. Hell, Xion was relegated to cameos and has done nothing else of value since Days. Her relevance relies on Roxas and Axel giving a shit about her rather than the plot. So I don't know what your attempt here was by throwing Naminè under the bus, but it was ineffective :|.





Even fans have admitted he's mediocre and suggest to turn your brain off to play the game, so yes, I can state whatever I want about the matter, especially since I had invested time and money into the series. If you have an issue with that, feel free to join the forum police I guess.

But really, where in the rule does it say we have to think Nomura is a great writer and KH is the epitome of quality narrative?

Xion got a clear beginning, middle, and end for her story. Sure, it all happened in Days, which is why I had hoped Xion would never return. Her sacrifice is what made her story complete. It was tragic, but she served no purpose beyond that, so I didn't really get why Nomura wanted her to come back - he probably thought that fan service would make people go crazy, but now it's made me expect him to actually use Xion. Don't make her come back and then do nothing. She would have been better written off the way she was in Days.

Namine never received an actual story that was her own. Her whole existence revolves around Roxas and Sora, and either being saved by them or helping them then being forgotten/ignored. Sure, she was actually involved with the main plot of more games than Xion, but it was unfortunately as Nomura's tool to make things happen. In KH3, he needed an excuse for Lingering Will to show up, he has Namine magically communicate with him to save the day. But when he forgets about her, he forgets about her hard, because Namine would have been perfect to go to The Final World to find the star that would lead to Quadratum. Namine would have been useful to go through Kairi's memories. Instead it's Ansem, Ienzo, and Vexen. When Namine actually gets a narrative that has her character actually get development and not scraps stitched together over multiple games, decades apart, then talk to me. I love Namine, but I don't see how you can say Xion's story in Days is utter trash with no meaning while Namine's tale is a literary masterpiece.

I remember when Days came out, I was here back then, and I was hoping for more Namine. I didn't know how I initially felt about Xion coming in between Roxas/Axel, but as I played the game I fell in love with Xion. The reason I love Days is because it's kind of like a documentary, following these 3 kids who are broken and alone with an empty future, you know the results of their future, but you can't help but hope something different happens. You might laugh at it or roll your eyes because you think the tragedy of their story is crap, but Xion is one of the best characters I've ever seen in all of media. Xion's death scene was a perfectly earned moment - the second that the brilliant Musique pour la tristesse de Xion starts playing, to the reference to ice cream... it makes you realize just how much pain Xehanort is inflicting on these people. Roxas was hurt badly... and he didn't even know it. But we did and that's what makes it even more painful.

Xion is an invaluable part of the equation for making Master Xehanort and the Organization actual villains. Days was a genius way to show them as villains, without them doing typical or in your face "evil" things. CoM introduced the Organization as a mysterious group which piqued our interest. KH2 did nothing for the Organization as villains, they were just "the bad guys". Days is what solidified them as truly evil. Through the lens of something relatable to the player - being a teenager trying to find your place in the world and friends to help you through it - we see the ugly truth of the Organization. Xion was evidence of just how far Xehanort/Xemnas would go to achieve his goal and for research, all while being aware of what would happen to her. It's not even pointed out or emphasized, which to me is the beauty and ingenuity of Days. The subtlety of what is really happening isn't through the literary lens of "hero vs. villain", but rather how a teenager would process losing a friend and control of their life. Namine may have made a phone call (offscreen) to Lingering Will and had an optional cutscene as a star in KH3, but Xion's story MADE the Organization truly evil.

 

[Deliverance]

People really acting like Xion has some unique character arc when it’s basically just a copy-paste of Roxas’ story from KH2.

-Special Nobody with amnesia
-Has dreams about Sora’s adventures
-Goes out on her own to investigate
-Meets Namine who exposits her origin
-Fights Axel who want to bring her back to the Org
-Disappears and goes back into Sora

Even if that was the point, does it really change anything? Like damn, it sure was worth butchering all these characters so we could explore that. Really enjoyed having Roxas being turned into a simp with no agency.

 

[Face My Fears]

People really acting like Xion has some unique character arc when it’s basically just a copy-paste of Roxas’ story from KH2.

-Special Nobody with amnesia
-Has dreams about Sora’s adventures
-Goes out on her own to investigate
-Meets Namine who exposits her origin
-Fights Axel who want to bring her back to the Org
-Disappears and goes back into Sora

Even if that was the point, does it really change anything? Like damn, it sure was worth butchering all these characters so we could explore that. Really enjoyed having Roxas being turned into a simp with no agency.

Yes.

It changes how we perceive the Organization. Before Days, they were simply a mysterious group of anime bad guys. After Xion, we realize how truly cruel they are - especially Xehanort/Xemnas. Sure, it's a minor detail that is often overlooked amidst the madness of KH, but the true evil of the Xehanort character to me has always been his fascination with pushing the boundaries to the natural order. Xion's existence enhanced Xehanort's character for future installments and even helps explain Xehanort's time travel feat - even making it seem expected for a character like Xehanort. Instead of the time travel being some generic evil ploy to one-up the heroes, it's a natural progression of Xehanort's obsession with research and understanding. First it was Vanitas/X-Blade, then it was creating nobodies and heartless, then it was replicas, then it was Xion, then it was using time travel and replicas. Xion is a key part of Xehanort's relentless pursuit of knowledge and experimentation.

Also, I don't think that Xion ruined Roxas. Actually, I think she helped him grow as a character. In a way, Xion's sacrifice probably helped influence Roxas (unbeknownst to him) on his decision to return to Sora as well. We also get to see Roxas actually make friends and grow his friendship instead of just thrown into an established friendship like with Hayner/Pence/Olette. How do you think Xion caused Roxas and Axel to be butchered?

 

[Sign]

Well now I'm wondering who is the most hated character, if not Xion, despite recent events I doubt it's Kairi, honestly even Terra has his fans. Guess we wait for another Japanese opinion poll for the definitive answer

Kairi is very well liked among casual fans, and Terra gets dunked on a lot but nobody actually hates him.

It's an interesting question! I'm also very curious who would take the crown for most hated Maybe it's simply just Xehanort because he's the villain lol

 

[Face My Fears]

Kairi is very well liked among casual fans, and Terra gets dunked on a lot but nobody actually hates him.

It's an interesting question! I'm also very curious who would take the crown for most hated Maybe it's simply just Xehanort because he's the villain lol

I don't hate any of the KH characters like I do other characters in media where I'm like "get off the screen!"

If I had to choose a character that I like the least, it would probably be Ienzo. He is so far removed from Zexion and is just kind of bland. Ienzo is also involved in the dullest scenes in KH3, not only is it just him reporting exposition without much character, but it's also done over the Gummiphone which makes it even more bland. Some of those scenes, I would have rather just have someone say "Ienzo just told us this" and have the group in the Gummiship discuss it without Ienzo being part of the conversation.

 

[Sign]

I don't hate any of the KH characters like I do other characters in media where I'm like "get off the screen!"

If I had to choose a character that I like the least, it would probably be Ienzo. He is so far removed from Zexion and is just kind of bland. Ienzo is also involved in the dullest scenes in KH3, not only is it just him reporting exposition without much character, but it's also done over the Gummiphone which makes it even more bland. Some of those scenes, I would have rather just have someone say "Ienzo just told us this" and have the group in the Gummiship discuss it without Ienzo being part of the conversation.

Lol different strokes for different folks. I quite like Ienzo and how eager and talkative he became after being recompleted; it was a refreshing break from his Zexion persona. He certainly could have been utilized better though, but the same could be said of most characters in KH3.

 

[Face My Fears]

Lol different strokes for different folks. I quite like Ienzo and how eager and talkative he became after being recompleted; it was a refreshing break from his Zexion persona. He certainly could have been utilized better though, but the same could be said of most characters in KH3.

Sure he was eager and talkative, but everything he was saying we basically already knew. If he was saying new and interesting stuff, then maybe I would have felt different. But he didn't really do anything useful in KH3 except tell Sora the information that we already knew. Seeing as Ienzo's scenes were the "main story" cutscenes, I was expecting more.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Sure he was eager and talkative, but everything he was saying we basically already knew. If he was saying new and interesting stuff, then maybe I would have felt different. But he didn't really do anything useful in KH3 except tell Sora the information that we already knew. Seeing as Ienzo's scenes were the "main story" cutscenes, I was expecting more.

But "we" already know this information only because we are dedicated fans and we have the advantage of overlooking the entire situation from the outside.

I think it is obvious that Ienzo's explanations are more for both SDG who do not have the advantage of being all-knowing and for new/casual KH players who are not well-versed in the lore of the KH series and didn't read all the reports in older games etc. even if they did play them.

In the past there were often complaints about how complicated KH's story is because many explanations were given only in the reports, or worse, only Ultimania interviews so this is actually a step up from before even if it has the side effect of being "boring" for dedicated fans and lore nerds who already know this stuff in and out.

As on the topic of "hating" characters I am of the opinion that "hate" is too strong an emotion to have on what sums up to fictional constructs but there can be certainly some characters that grind ones gears or get annoying from time to time.
For me that used to be mainly Pete (because I know his more competent version from the Disney comics) and Demyx (because I can't stand lazy people who push their workload on others and play deliberately dumb) but as of lately Axel/Lea is starting to get annoying somewhat as well with the overblown fourth wall-leaning and behaving all too attention seeking starting with DDD.

 

[2 quid is good]

Maybe it's simply just Xehanort because he's the villain lol

I'm sure there's some people out there with a "Xehanort never did anything wrong!" bias xD

I feel like pre KH3 it might have been Vexen, and honestly for me he's probably still one of my most disliked, I didn't buy the redemption at all but hey ho

 

[Swing]

Isn't it Kairi?

Isn't it pretty much every character that isn't Sora, Riku, Xehanort, and maybe Aqua. For real, you can pretty much remove almost all characters besides these four (or three) and the story of KH wouldn't really change. Most of the characters have the same issue as the Disney worlds. They are trapped in their own little story, that has no real impact on the narrative.

 

[Deliverance]

Yes.

It changes how we perceive the Organization. Before Days, they were simply a mysterious group of anime bad guys. After Xion, we realize how truly cruel they are - especially Xehanort/Xemnas. Sure, it's a minor detail that is often overlooked amidst the madness of KH, but the true evil of the Xehanort character to me has always been his fascination with pushing the boundaries to the natural order. Xion's existence enhanced Xehanort's character for future installments and even helps explain Xehanort's time travel feat - even making it seem expected for a character like Xehanort. Instead of the time travel being some generic evil ploy to one-up the heroes, it's a natural progression of Xehanort's obsession with research and understanding. First it was Vanitas/X-Blade, then it was creating nobodies and heartless, then it was replicas, then it was Xion, then it was using time travel and replicas. Xion is a key part of Xehanort's relentless pursuit of knowledge and experimentation.

Also, I don't think that Xion ruined Roxas. Actually, I think she helped him grow as a character. In a way, Xion's sacrifice probably helped influence Roxas (unbeknownst to him) on his decision to return to Sora as well. We also get to see Roxas actually make friends and grow his friendship instead of just thrown into an established friendship like with Hayner/Pence/Olette. How do you think Xion caused Roxas and Axel to be butchered?

Well you’re definitely right about that. Days sure did change my perception of the Org. In 2 they were actually somewhat sympathetic. They were the bad guys but at least you could see where they were coming from, and the game let you decide as to whether their actions were justified or not. In Days, they’re so one dimensionally evil that it comes at the expense of their own schemes.

Xemnas’ “master plan” is the dumbest shit ever. So he creates Xion to have a spare Keyblade wielder in case something happens to Roxas, but she works by stealing his power to the point where he’s basically useless. And at the end Xemnas makes them fight each other so only the strongest wielder remains. That’s like if you bought a spare wrench in case your main one breaks, but then you used that spare to break your main wrench so you end up with just one wrench. The story’s conflict stems purely out of Xemnas’s own stupidity.

Roxas’ problems as a character in Days are a direct result of Xion. Even though Roxas is the protagonist, the story is about Xion. She drives the plot. And because the game wants her to be the catalyst for Roxas leaving the Org, it means he needs to be a passive character that does nothing for most of the game. He makes no important decisions for himself. He blindly does whatever he’s told. He has no actual desires or goals. And once Xion is introduced, his entire life revolves around her. And any decisions he does make afterwards are because of her.

Contrast this with KH2, where he was assertive and actually somewhat aggressive. This was consistent even in the few flashbacks of him in the Org. That was his established character. But because Xion stole his arc beat for beat and Days is a prequel, it retroactively makes everything he did in the prologue a result of Xion too.

“Roxas became proactive because of Xion!”
“Roxas and Namine’s bond happened because of Xion!”
“Roxas accepts merging with Sora because of Xion!”

This is textbook Mary Sue-itude.

 

[Elysium]

I can see some of the hate Xion has received as having been part of shipping reasons. I mean, KH2 does depict this powerful relationship between two guys and then shoves a female character between them when they get their own game. If anything, Xion and Roxas have a stronger connection in Days than Roxas and Axel, which is contrary to how 2 had depicted them. Everything about Axel is retconned, from his age, to his motives, his personality, etc. It's hard for me to believe he's such a popular character considering how all over the place he's been treated by the story. I think it's the hair and the fire element more than anything else.

I personally don't mind Xion and never have. I think my anger at Days back when it first came out is that I was only interested in the game to see more of the various Organization members who do not get enough camera time and to see how the CoM members interacted with the others. I think for me it was more hoping they'd correct some of KH2's failures really for not showing or developing its villains more (KH2FM attempts to band-aid that with new additional scenes of the Org. talking in the throne room, but eh...). Days failed on delivering that entirely. I like it more now when I can just play it and accept it for what it is rather that what it should've been. It was the same thing with BbS--it utterly failed to deliver on the moments you'd want to see in a prologue of this story. Of course, I can enjoy Days more now than I can BbS. I really only like Aqua in BbS... Maybe if it wasn't three scenarios, it wouldn't feel so long and hollow.

The only characters I hate are a few of Xehanort's iterations particularly Old Master Xehanort, Eraqus, Ventus, and Kairi. (Going by what I just wrote above, I suppose it's no surprise most of the characters I hate first appeared in BbS....)

It turned into The Riku Show the moment Nomura read the popularity poll results.

I wish. He barely got anything in 3. But if there's a 3D 2.0 with him being a protagonist again, I won't complain.

Xion's far from the most hated character, but her fans and criticizers are equally as aggressive so discussions often appear one way or the other. I think most people like her fine but she is undeniably very divisive.

Lately it seems like all the female characters are divisive... I think that has more to do with real world issues and I'll leave it at that.

 

[Raz]

Ienzo is hot and smart, we love to see it.

I think Xion is fine and people do too much on either side. I remember my frustration being that Days was billed as an inside look at the inner workings of the Organization but we ended up finding out next to nothing new about any of the established members and got the Xion drama instead.

 

[Swing]

I don't hate her, not at all, but I also do not pay much attention to her either. For me, Xion has the same issue as many other KH-characters, meaning, that she feels like she is just there. I just don't see the reason, why she was even created. She servers no real purpose other than just another KH-character. But as I said, this issue do many characters in this franchise have. It is not just her. Kingdom Hearts is very similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog-franchise from SEGA. Most of the characters were just created to get people's attention. This is actually a good trick to get people interested in a new game. But it also means that you have a bunch of fan-favorite characters, that have to return for almost every upcoming game after.

 

[Face My Fears]

But "we" already know this information only because we are dedicated fans and we have the advantage of overlooking the entire situation from the outside.

I think it is obvious that Ienzo's explanations are more for both SDG who do not have the advantage of being all-knowing and for new/casual KH players who are not well-versed in the lore of the KH series and didn't read all the reports in older games etc. even if they did play them.

In the past there were often complaints about how complicated KH's story is because many explanations were given only in the reports, or worse, only Ultimania interviews so this is actually a step up from before even if it has the side effect of being "boring" for dedicated fans and lore nerds who already know this stuff in and out.

As on the topic of "hating" characters I am of the opinion that "hate" is too strong an emotion to have on what sums up to fictional constructs but there can be certainly some characters that grind ones gears or get annoying from time to time.
For me that used to be mainly Pete (because I know his more competent version from the Disney comics) and Demyx (because I can't stand lazy people who push their workload on others and play deliberately dumb) but as of lately Axel/Lea is starting to get annoying somewhat as well with the overblown fourth wall-leaning and behaving all too attention seeking starting with DDD.

There's one thing for exposition to help newer/less familiar players understand the plot of KH3, but it was just strange writing to have things beaten into us in previous games be treated as "revelations" in KH3. Or at least been more creative with the information reveals. I liked how they did the Ven reveal with Vanitas in Monstropolis, but I feel like it could have been done a little better - maybe show Vanitas trying to find Ven and how he figured out to search in Sora. That way there would be something new for the well-versed players and an explanation for newer players. Instead it felt like the main story cutscenes, especially with Ienzo, were relegated to exposition of information we already knew and just telling it to Sora on-screen, when I would easily accept that Sora just knew already because someone told him offscreen.

Which randomly makes me wish ReMIND included cutscenes during the main story showing what the Organization members were up to. It would have helped explain some motives in the Disney worlds.

Well you’re definitely right about that. Days sure did change my perception of the Org. In 2 they were actually somewhat sympathetic. They were the bad guys but at least you could see where they were coming from, and the game let you decide as to whether their actions were justified or not. In Days, they’re so one dimensionally evil that it comes at the expense of their own schemes.

Xemnas’ “master plan” is the dumbest shit ever. So he creates Xion to have a spare Keyblade wielder in case something happens to Roxas, but she works by stealing his power to the point where he’s basically useless. And at the end Xemnas makes them fight each other so only the strongest wielder remains. That’s like if you bought a spare wrench in case your main one breaks, but then you used that spare to break your main wrench so you end up with just one wrench. The story’s conflict stems purely out of Xemnas’s own stupidity.

Roxas’ problems as a character in Days are a direct result of Xion. Even though Roxas is the protagonist, the story is about Xion. She drives the plot. And because the game wants her to be the catalyst for Roxas leaving the Org, it means he needs to be a passive character that does nothing for most of the game. He makes no important decisions for himself. He blindly does whatever he’s told. He has no actual desires or goals. And once Xion is introduced, his entire life revolves around her. And any decisions he does make afterwards are because of her.

Contrast this with KH2, where he was assertive and actually somewhat aggressive. This was consistent even in the few flashbacks of him in the Org. That was his established character. But because Xion stole his arc beat for beat and Days is a prequel, it retroactively makes everything he did in the prologue a result of Xion too.

“Roxas became proactive because of Xion!”
“Roxas and Namine’s bond happened because of Xion!”
“Roxas accepts merging with Sora because of Xion!”

This is textbook Mary Sue-itude.

Xemnas' master plan in KH2 was stupid too. If you go off of vanilla KH2, Xemnas just seems like an idiot. He intentionally becomes a nobody, then cries and begs for sympathy because he just wants to be whole... yet he did it to himself? Also, his plan is for Sora to go kill heartless to create Kingdom Hearts, so why not stay hidden and let Sora wander around worlds looking for Riku/Mickey killing heartless until you get Kingdom Hearts?

At least in Days, it sort of fixes Xemnas' stupidity in KH2. It shows that he initially was looking for someone that he could actually control to do the job of killing heartless. Which then explains why he settled on Sora because he couldn't control someone, so he resorted to manipulating Sora into killing heartless (which he would have done anyway, so Xemnas didn't really do anything to Sora).

Not only does it at least make Xemnas seem more competent where he would try and get a keyblade wielder he could control, but it also fleshed out the true purpose of the replica program (and its potential for future use like in KH3). Xemnas in KH2 was just a mysterious bad guy with a thesaurus feigning sympathy for himself. Days may also make Xemnas look stupid, but that "stupidity" is actually a result of his researcher side. He wanted to see what would happen between the actual nobody (Roxas) and the replica made of memories (Xion). He assumed the end result would be a keyblade wielder he could control - so he didn't care who won, he would get a keyblade wielder and complete an experiment. Days may not have had the best plot for an action RPG, but in my eyes Days was meant to be a different kind of story - a smaller scale story about three friends caught up in something bigger than them. It was the perfect way to flesh out characters (Xemnas included) in a subtle way.

There's nothing wrong with passive characters being protagonists of stories. They are more difficult stories to write, but they do work and I think it did work in Days. Logically speaking, if Roxas had joined the Organization and made no friends, he would probably just continue doing what Xemnas said because that was what he thought his existence was. That's sort of the nature of nobodies - as seen when Roxas is first born and is a zombie. The catalysts to Roxas' change were Axel and Xion. Roxas was eventually caught between two opposing sides - Axel wanting to obey the Organization (to find his friend) and Xion who wanted to break away from them (to find herself). The game builds up to the climax of "what will Roxas do?" He needed to be more passive for that choice to be more impactful - we needed to see Axel and Xion play their parts, so that we could see how torn Roxas would become. Nomura made a wise decision putting the lens of the game through Roxas, so that we get to hear his inner thoughts and know him better, while other characters control the narrative - so that it doesn't feel unbalanced and Roxas still feels like the main character, albeit passive.

Even though we the players can assume that what Roxas did in KH2 was all because of Xion - storywise, it isn't. At that point, Xion was already wiped from everyone's memories (yet somehow still in Vexen's diary) and then Roxas' memories were wiped again when he was placed into the fake Twilight Town. With basically a double mind wipe of Xion, his actions ins KH2 are solely his own which is a testament to who Roxas is.