Summoning in Final fantasy...

Is it just me, or does it seem that Summoning is getting less and less useful with every FF? In FFIV, Summoning was damn useful, and Bahamut became a lifesaver more times than I could count.

In FFV, Summoning was no less useful. I always made sure there was at least one person who was current with summoning for that moment i the game.

In FFVI… Not too much point to summoning, but still, I found some uses at points.

FFVII… A bit more useful than in VI, but even so, I didn’t use them all that much.

Never played VIII, so I can’t say for that, but considering the rest of the game, I wouldn’t doubt it sucks, too.

FFIX- seriously, this is the only game where I never summon anything, even if jsut to see how it looks. In the four times I’ve played through this game, I’ve summoned… maybe 6 times.

X summons were useful again, but too uyseful, if you ask me. You know what I mean.

Does anyone else notice this trend/problem?

That’s not much of a trend, even according to you. The only real trend there is that FF9’s summons are “less useful” than FF4’s, with the rest of the games fluctuating back and forth.

Gah, “trend” was the wrong word, I know. I can’t think of the word for what I mean. But I stand by my half-assed opinion.

For me it was quite different the older the game the less,I thought summons were needed:

FFIV:Quite useful,but i didn’t use more than half of them
FFV:I really almost never thought of them as useful
FFVI:needed to use them more often
FFVII:Use them very often (Even thought KOTR is overpowered)
FFVIII:I needed them a lot,but the animations were too lomg
FFIX:I really don’t bother with the summons
FFX:Too damned powerful.

IV: They were helpful if you were too lazy to level Rydia.
V: Very useful Pheonix was part of my strategy for defeating Neo X-Death
VI: Almost never used them.
VII: Same as above
VIII: Always used them.
IX: Used them occasionaly.
X: Whenever I needed them.

Dammit, quit forgetting FF3!! >_<

VI: I think I used Tritoch once, but that’s it.
VII: Pretty useful.
VIII: I used them a lot, until I realized that you don’t get cash for killing enemies with them.
IX: I used them quite a lot once I got Bahamut and Madeen.
Tactics: Neat, but by the time you have enough MP and JP to use the higher level ones (Not to mention getting Zodiac) there are plenty of stronger choices.
Tactics Advance: Jesus Christ yeah, the Totema are uber-powerful.

I have not played Final Fantasy games beyond VI extensively, but anyhow…

Final Fantasy III: Generally, I found the black wizard class, and its superior version, the warlock, more useful than the summoning classes. I never used the conjuror, and I tried the summoner briefly to see what it was like, although in the end I just used the black wizard and shaman. I only used the Bahamut summon (Why bother waste a spell of the same level on Leviathan or Odin, when Leviathan inflicts less damage and Odin scarcely slew any foes for me?) when I got the sage class at the end of the game.

Final Fantasy IV: I probably used summons most extensively in this game. First Chocobo, then Titan (earth seems damage almost anything in the middle of the game), then Leviathan, and lastly Bahamut. I never bothered getting the summons acquired by winning battles, though (goblin, cockatrice, bomb, mind flayer).

Final Fantasy V: I used summons fairly commonly here, also, although not quite as commonly as in IV. Towards the end of the game, however, I tended to use more physical attacks (X-Fight whilst wielding two weapons). I loved the Golem summon, too; it was very useful in battles against the Sealed and Exdeath (first battle).

Final Fantasy VI: I rarely used the summons in this game except for Ragnarok and to a degree Bahamut (although I tend to get the Ragnarok sword rather than the esper), mainly because I tend to be somewhat conservative with using my party’s MP. The Crusader summon looks cool, but I basically never ever use any attacks which damage both enemies and allies. I did not use the Golem summon quite as often here, but it was still quite useful. On the whole, though, although many summons looked nice, I found that they scarcely worked as well as I thought that they might.

Final Fantasy VII: I have not played this game that much, but the summons looked decent here. I agree that the Knights of the Round do seem overpowered.

Final Fantasy VIII: Because I was introduced to this game by a fellow who made heavy use of summons, I tended to use them somewhat often, especially early in the game.

Is declining usefulness of summons a trend? It may very well be, but it does not seem too worrisome to me. Some games just favour the summons more. I guess that that makes for some variation in battle tactics in the different games, which to me is a bit of spice.

Actually, I remember once making a thread about how the Final Fantasy series was debasing the metal mithril, fearing a worrisome trend myself.

Oh yes… quite awful, considering they never really pretended it was anything other than a cool-sounding metal (hence the term “Mythril” used for nearly every game released after '94).

Yeah, especially in FF6, Mithril was practically the weakest metal. (Everyone at the start has like MithrilKnife or MithrilSword.) Gold was way stronger than Mithril.

How strong IS Mithril, anyways?

And for the record, your party members in FF6 didn’t start with Mithril. It was on sale in Narshe after the “Save Terra” scene. 8)

Which makes no sense, but whatever, it’s a game.

I haven’t played the FF’s as extensively as everyone here, but I can give my impressions on VI, VII, VIII, IX, and X.

VI: I pretty much agree with Sir Percival. The summons were not really that useful, though they were sometimes fun to use.

VII: Summons here were very nice. Odin’s Steel Sword (or whatever it’s called) was real nice. My favorite summons though had to be Neo Bahamut and Bahamut Zero. At the time they were literally jaw-dropping. KoTR was good, but then it dragged on too long. I’d W-Summon it and then go get a drink.

VIII: Too. Many. Summons. I swear all you had to do to win in that game was pull out summon after summon. No strategy needed. (Of course that was only necessary until you could draw 99 Ultima’s and link them to Squall’s Strength so you could 1-hit most everything in the game. -_-)

IX: Neither fun nor useful in my opinion.

X: This new spin-off on summoning was pretty fun, but you know, once your characters got to a certain point you really didn’t need them any more. Besides, if you were going for a balanced game (meaning you leveled everyone rather than just a few choice characters) you would need to give everyone a turn BEFORE using a summon, dragging out the battles.

Oh, and on a related note:

http://rpgworldcomic.com/d/20020210.html

Every time Yuna summoned someone and said “Please, aid us,” I half-expected the summon to say “No.”

Equip:
??? (Terra)
MithrilKnife
Buckler
Leather Hat
Leather Armor

Wedge & Vicks
MithrilBlade
Buckler
Leather Hat
Leather Armor

Yes, but I meant that Mithril doesn’t really become available for purchase until that point in the game, so you only have a couple of pieces of Mithril equipment, and only one on a character you’ll actually be keeping (unless you swipe Mog’s stuff in the introduction.)

I tend to use summons more often the first time I play through a game, or at least in the beginning. Then as I get better at it, I use them less. X is the exception.

sure summons became useless in all the games but they are one of the best reasons that ff games are fun and playable…i havent played anything under 7 but out of the rest 7 did have the best summons…8 were good but yes they did have alot, what wasit 16 plus phoenix and the lil chocobo dude, gelgemesh and odin…thats alot…9 they really werent to useful but atleast u have them…10, this wasone game that u could play just using summons, u could be on level 1 but aslong as ur sommons were overdrived u beat the game…x-2 could of used them…including some more characters to play with…havent gotten any with 11…but yes i luv the summons…

p.s. dont hate on knights of the round…sure they were powerful but look how much time it took to get it…by the time u could u were almost done with the game…but that was a good summon to have…they should also bring back bahamut zero

Summon going right in X and TA: Overkills - I thinks not!

Big Nutter
Summons a Fat Chocobo Nutter and crew hide since it doesn’t half stink

In FF4 I didn’t touch the summons. The only one worth using was Bahamut, and frankly, by the time I got him, Meteo was more worth using.

In FF5 I beat NeoExdeath underleveled by quicking Bahamut twice in a row for each character. Other than that, I didn’t touch summons in FF5 except to break into the flying earth crystal fortress thing where the cannons were extremely weak to Ramuh.

FF6 summons were fucking hardcore! Anyone who doesn’t use them is missing out. Wrexoul + Shoat/Odin/Raiden = Instant Victory, and that’s IMO one of the hardest battles in the game. Sure, some of the earlier ones blew, but later on you got Bahamut, Palidor, Raiden, PHOENIX, among others.

I used summons in FF7 ALL THE TIME. Not just KotR. They were my horde-killing staple. I leveled everyone’s Limits up by killing 5 monsters per battle in the forests near Junon. I was killing Dragons on Mt Nibel with Cosmo Memory, JUST BECAUSE I COULD. It was great.

In FF8, two words: Doom. Train.

FF9’s summons I admit were a little shitty. I mean plase, Ark. For an ultimate summon, 2000 damage is cutting it a bit short.

FFX, well, we all know who Anima is :stuck_out_tongue:

So I’d actually say there is a reverse trend. I don’t know why you’re whining about summons being raped or something, because they went from relatively worthless in FF4, to extremely overpowered by FFx. FFIX is the only exception, in which summons were only useful in the cinematics.

<b><u>Never played VIII</b></u>, so I can’t say for that, <b><u>but considering the rest of the game</b></u>, I wouldn’t doubt it sucks, too.
You, Sir, are an idiot. Then again, what was I expecting? I’m talking to VE here.

Whatever, buy into the typically ignorant FF8 hearsay. It’s not me who’s missing out on the best game in the series.

Hades…you can’t call a game the best in the series. It’s all subjective. Though…it is fun to argue pointlessly. Anyway, for me 8 was definitly not the best in the series. I liked it, but the summoning was FUBAR. Using them every turn gets boring after a while.
Though it does seem a bit presumptious to say you haven’t play the game yet say it sucks Val…

Face it Hades, you are way in the minority on this one. Even if you very fervently believe that FF8 is the best, you can hardly call the vast majority of FF-playing folks, including myself, ignorant or idiots.