Since KH1 is the greatest KH that ever was or will be I usually give a ton of shit to the other games. Days is one of the two games in the series (along with Coded) that I find kinda pointless. Usually I talk about how I would have improved the games but never about Days since the whole gameplay would need to be reworked but I found myself musing what kind of narrative Napalm Days would have had.
First off Xion would be totally scrapped. I don't hate the character but she/it is kinda pointless plot point after we already had Roxas do pretty much exact same character arc and purpose in KH2, the previous game!
Instead the game would be laser focused on the relationship between Axel and Roxas and that would get reworking as well. The Days Axel is pretty much the exact same guy we see in KH2. And what frustrates me is that the CoM Axel vanished into oblivion. Instead of the super adbrupt change Napalm Days would be a story how the CoM psycho asshole Axel turns into decent guy KH2 Axel.
At the start of the narrative Axel definately isn't Roxas's buddy. The Axel I imagine would want nothing to do with him. One thing I do kinda like in Days is the Lea+Isa scheming so that is the primary duo in the very beginning. Saix is the quiet thinker of the two while Axel is the sarcastic loudmouth who does the dirty work.
However since Axel literally is the hitman/assassin of the organization Xemnas personally puts him in charge of training Roxas to be a heartless killing machine. Instead of the instant buddy buddy Axel would be totally antagonistic for this kid who can't do anything right and he is stuck with him. The arc would be more like the one in KH1 where D+G being Sora's friends don't become a fact until the Hollow Bastion scene. Indeed there are a few points where Donald is openly against Sora.
What we get is the classic Buddy Cop format. Over the year Roxas becomes an actual force pretty much passing Axel. Also when he develops as a thinking character instead of just a Nobody he would get a sniff of something sinister Saix is up to and would have put a stop to him and Axel. Classic trope where Axel would have to choose a side in the end, being the final turning point from asshole Axel to good guy Axel. Maybe even have it be kinda ironic how Roxas is able to awaken more memories of him being a human than his actual old ex human friend Saix. Whatever this event might be pushes Roxas away from the Organization and ties into the flashback scenes from KH2.
This is just a little brainstorming I did for fun. Not to be taken too seriously
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