Old vs new way of summoning

Rydia

Rydia

Throwing rocks at emo kids
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Do you prefer the old method of summoning (where the summon shows up, does a single powerful attack and leaves) or the new way of summoning (the summon shows up and you control it for a while.)

I personally prefer the old way. The summons seemed much more powerful and God like. With the new way, they just seem weak and a bit useless and very annoying to use. I rarely ever summoned in XII or XIII. I also don't like how small they look next to the characters. Bahamut looked pathetically small in X and XIII :/
 
There's a charm with how these massive godly creatures graces the summoner with their presence for one mighty attack, but I gotta admit, I did like how you could control them in FFX, and haven't done it in FFXII yet, but I didn't hate them in FFXIII. Didn't love-love them (except Odin - he was just kewl :3) but I can't really shriek hatred against them either *shrugs*

I guess it depends on the battle system. Up 'til FFIX, FF was turn-based, so one mighty attack from a summoned monster was appropriate, and while FFX maintained that for the most part, it managed to innovate with summoning. FFXII with it's free roaming battle system probably wouldn't do well with a one-attack summoned beast. FFXIII's battle system was just a big experiment all on it's own, and there's enough material abut people's opinions about it, but really, would it make sense to have your whole party disappear to summon a monster while enemies were free to continue to attack while your summon made that one big attack?

I think my fave summon system was FFX, so I appreciate the classics, but I guess I'm all for innovation.
 
Single Attack summons are great but they were kind of annoying, until they shortened them in FFIX, but then they went and changed it completely in FFX, which was for the better I think.....after years of summoning Bahamut and wanting more control you got it in FFX.

The Espers in FFXII were just another nail in that games coffin, and the FFXIII Aeons were conceptually brilliant but failed to be implemented to the players benefit.....ideas for games are only good if they do benefit the player.

I have a brilliant concept that does not benefit any body but me........blah blah blah
 
Yes FFx's summoning system just blew me away. Its the best imo (I havent played FFXIII yet) Finally we get to control the Aeons and even teach them stuff etc..
I just loved the shit out of it..

FFXII's Espers were so freaking awesome in designs but damn useless in actual battle ..too short imo. I hate limited timesets !!!!!! I want when they die etc..
\
:rage:
 
The newer games manage a rather poor implementation of the summons as a whole, especially in FFXII. The summons in the two most recent games are just so feeble that you'd hardly consider using them at all, bar perhaps to heal (FFXIII). What I liked about the old summons and their systems were the variety. Each summon comes with its own abilities. They don't all launch a grand visual display of fireworks at an enemy to damage them. Some would come with useful abilities such as tripling your spell capabilities.

From FFX sort of onwards, the summons are just pretty much there to do some damage. Kudos to FFX though, for producing my favourite system of summoning despite this. The argument that with a more real time battle system, you probably need to evolve the summoning system makes sense. The battle system has evolved after FFX, so must the summoning system. It's just unfortunate and ironic therefore that with this evolution it has caused the summons themselves in FFX and FFXII to (to put it bluntly) downgrade and become horribly insignificant.
 
I did prefer it when the only ones that can summon are Summoners i.e. Yuna, Rydia, Garnet etc., as it seemed to make the summons more special and also made each character unique; in FF's like V, VI, VII, VIII every character just ends up to be pretty much the same because they can all use Summons, all use magic, all can attack physically. Only the limit break separates them. But this is probably beside the point.

Just looking at summons, I agree with most that X's summon system was the best; I liked how they grew stronger with Yuna, and how you can customize their stats and moves.

However I also liked the way VIII's GFs were used; how you can 'borrow' their strengths by junctioning them, and that without them your characters are worthless.

I don't like them to be too powerful, but at the same time not as weak as the randomnly encountered enemy; it was painful to watch some of my summons in XII get completely battered by a few bombs.

I also like a good variety of moves, and the old FF's were good at this IMO. A good range of support (Phantom, Carbuncle, Golem etc) and damaging (Bahamut, Ifrit etc) summons back then, but now it seems like all they're capable of is just attack.

So my verdict: the old system was better as it allowed more types of summons that were actually useful, but X's was probably the best.
 
I don't like the new way of Summoning. I found them too weak at times and not worth summoning them. Why waste a time with them when my characters can take care of it much faster and more efficiently. I just found the new way of summoning just a waste of time. More for show than actually getting the job done.

I'd have to agree with Vinnie that I like the way the GFs were used in FFVIII. I liked that you can junction some of the abilities that they can learn to strengthen your character. The game made the GFs more useful so you had to use them in some way. Other FF games I can go through without the use of a single summon.
 
I used the summons the most in FFX, that was just simply awesome. I loved their entrancevideo and you could control them as long as you wanted, just until they die and that is just the best. Also upgrading their strength and whatever and get new abilities was nice. In FFXII they sucked, I never used them, also because of the limited time and in FFXIII they were okay, but again the time was limitted. I just prefer to have control over them until they die.
 
I don't particularly care. Right, firstly, the only time I geniunely have used summons in the FF games from 6 to 13 to help me progress in the game has been in FFX, and that was to wipe out bosses quickly with Yuna.
 
It seems to me, that for either way by the end of the game that summons are superfluous. For example outside of KotR in 7 (and only because it was multiple this), at the end of the game when you are strong enough your strong attacks take off as much as the summons and are a lot quicker. Even in FFX when you are facing Nemesis and the lot, the summons are not that useful. In 13 the eidons are worthless outside of the "renew" aspect.

That being said I think FFX was the best- it was cool to build up their stats, teach them spells and control them.
 
I rather prefer the new way. The monsters seem to have as much "life" to them as the main characters, so it seems right to make it so you can control them. I really liked XIII's summon system, it seemed to be a brightness in a (in my opinion) sometimes questionable battle system.
 
The old way was definitely much better. I liked FF X's unique summon system. It got back to the original "summoner only" style and it allowed you to feel your summons had more value and weren't indestructible. However they did have that old time feel. I actually probably wouldn't even put FF X's in the "old" category.

Imho, FF 8 had an epic way of making you get attached to your summons. You literally depended on them. That may have been a turn off to some but I found it to be quite good. FF 7 was just like the classic summoning system minus the need for a summoner. That and you had to find the materia for it. So FF 7 doesn't get much in my book for summons.

So in short, if I had to choose. I would take the classic version of summoners only, one big attack.
 
Hm. I'll go with the new way.

The new way, in my opinion, is the one I prefer, because the summon is actually with you throughout the battle. Although it might be somewhat downsized and all, but it feels more 'realistic', in a sense. The old way is usually the case of summon appears-attack-leaves, which is somewhat dull. Theoretically speaking, when I think of summoners, I think of people who literally call in summons/eidolons/whatever to help fight their battles... So, there, the new way of summoning appealed.
 
I think I prefer the new way overall, I like having more control of what i'm doing over a summon, although I love the old system too. I just find the new one better for me personally.

However, I really really hate the XII system, it's awful. Oh yeah, you can summon this but you won't be able to heal it or yourself. Why? Oh... about that... it kinda takes 1, 2 or 3 thirds of your mp.
It really aggrovated me, I never summon in XII.
X wasn't too bad, they were handy in tricky situations, as was the same with XIII plus the free heals are amazing.
 
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