best and worst summon system...

[Xu]

i guess the best is FFX's, because you can actually control the summon, the worst is FF6. The Summons oly can be used 1 time and oly 1 per character, plus they are rather weak and useless (some exceptions, maybe).

[black orb]

>>> The worst FF6, the whole game was all about espers and you can summon them only one time per battle :D

[TheAbominatrix]

Best is FFX, worst is VIII.

I liked VI's, because it made you rely on your own battle powers and whatnot, rather than summoning. In VIII you could constantly summon the same GF until their HP ran out. It made battles too easy. And then when you really needed them in the last battle they were absolutely useless. The game gave summoners a dependency on them and then took it away at the end.

[Vermachtnis]

The best is ten. Cause like stated before ya can controll the summons.

I like 6 cause, true when ya first get them all they're good for is teaching magic and boosting stats *Thank you Odin for speed*, but in Fanatics Tower they really come and save the day. (This is like my kind of not decided one)

I dislike IX, just because of Brahne. I mean what she did with Odin and Atomos made me think "Hell yea, the summons are going to be totally sweet" but then I get them and the do little damage and leave. Ark's summon is too long and the summons don't really give ya anything in the mind of magic or stat boosts.

[Pancaek]

The best is one of the SNES ones. They're good in FF4 and FF5 because they just come out, do tons of damage and leave. In FF6, they teach you stuff. Even though FF7 and FF9 have the same concept, the animations take forever, so that makes it worse because I'd like my 5000 damage to be over and done with in 5 seconds, not 5 minutes. My least favorite is FF8, because the characters have to be so dependent on either using the GFs for attacking, or drawing tons and tons of good spells to junction, which is boring. FFX's system was decent, but I only used the aeons for shields.

[PhoenixAsh]

Best FFVIII. If you depended on them, or think you were forced to draw for hours, you just didn't know how to play, sorry that's just how I see it.
FFVIII's system allowed so much freedom in how you play. The GFs could be summoned as much as you want, but that came with the cost of long animations (and the bonus of boost). This meant inexperiences players had a chance, but experienced player could have a much faster and less patience requiring game.


Worst is IX, no customising, no real use for them, no bonuses with them except an attack that takes ages to do very little. Game had them as a huge deal, but they were totally wasted.

[TheAbominatrix]

Please dont accuse us of not knowing how to play because we dislike the system of VIII. Many of us have been playing Final Fantasy and other RPGs for a good portion of our lives.

[Mr. Graves]

Summons in FF6 and FF7 are not necessary, in my style of play. Fire 3 combined with an ALL materia does more damage than the Ifrit summon Materia, or Phoenix, for that matter. The same applies for FF6 and its espers. High level elemental spells targeting all the enemies do more damage than a summon.

Anyway, The best system would have to be FF10. The Aeons protected your party, and you had some conrtol over what they did.

[PhoenixAsh]

At no point did I say that if you disliked VIII's system you didn't know how to play. I was quite specific what meant you didn't know how to play it.

[MagicKnight Locke]

worst:FF7
best:FF8,FF4,FF6,FF9,FF5,FF3j(lol)

[TheAbominatrix]

My point is, dont accuse any of us for not knowing how to play it. Simple. You have no idea about any of our playing skills, be they lacking or not. Now if you want to continue this argument, take it to PM, dont reiterate your pointless point here.

[PhoenixAsh]

So you actually post in public trying to make me look foolish, and then ask ME to answer back when noone can see? Whatever.

I never said I did know anything about your style, I gave two very clear examples of things that if you believed were the best way to play meant you didn't know the game. If you don't believe they are, then I didn't even bring your style into it.

LL I kinda agree with VII having one of the worst systems and I kinda don't. I agree because they did nothing but attack. I disagree because although they don't do much, they are effective compared to most other summons, FFVII never actually focuses on them so there's no reason for them to kick ass either.

[TheAbominatrix]

This isnt an effort to make you look foolish. You've done that yourself many many times. It's an effort to keep you out of trouble seen as you've already been warned for spamming in posts. Please just knock it off. I'm not going to reply to anything further, again just take it to PM. Dont insult other people's playing skills. Please.

[PhoenixAsh]

Well I appreciate your help, though I have not been warned about spamming in posts (or at least noones told me about the warning), and adding insults didn't really make your post any more credible. Again, I am not going to reply to a public message insulting me through PM, I'm not flaming you, and this isn't the only thing I'm gonna talk about in my post. Maybe you should try using the PM function, then I would have replied with the very handy reply button.

To anyone who felt I was insulting them, I assure you I was not. I was giving facts about the game. You do NOT have to rely on GFs, and you do NOT have to spend hours drawing. If anyone feels that in some way these facts have offended them please reply explaining how so as I am very interested to learn.

I don't think I've given FFX's system enough credit in here, and although the system is fantastic it did have faults IMO. The Aeons made the game way too easy in my opinion, and the way you got them was painful. I did find FFX encouraged using allies as a shield to much, and the Aeons just took this to extremes.
Plus of course they were the reason Yuna was praised and loved wherever she went instead of being tied up and locked away so she could no longer endanger the world through her stupidity.

[playaGAW]

FF4 I believe had the worst summoning system. I hated how summons got weaker as you went on negating thier use later in the game.It was interesting how they were made part of the story. With the land of the summons and getting more info on how they lived.

The best system I believe was in 10 which I just played for the first time last week. I love how you can control the Aeons.

[TheAbominatrix]

Did you get Bahamut and Leviathon and the more advanced summons in IV, Playa? They were good all the way to the end, especially in the last battle. Bahamut kicked serious tail.

[DMKA]

Well, as hard a time I have saying that any of them have anything better than FF7, I'd have to say FFX had the best. It was just great how they did that. I almost never used any of them in 9. FF8's was ok, but it made things way too easy, distroying challenge in most fights....I remember being at my friends house watching him play and he'd win a boss battle just summoning the entire time. No MP to consume, no number of times u can cast, no anything....just summon away >_>. FF7's was cool cause they were useful, and I feel anyone that dares to say that FF7 has the worst is just plain ignorant ^_^, but I won't comment any further on that. I'm still in the process of beating 4 (I can't beat Levithan or those damn doors >_<). Ummm any that I'm leaving out? oh yes 6,........well, that was probably the worst. yeah, I mean.....one time? And even then they weren't worth much. I mean, not once in the final battles did I ever use a summon.

So yeah, my choice is FF6.

[Blackmage]

I like FFX's system best. For the most part, the aeons weren't overly powerful (until you got the optional ones, of course.), and you could control them. The monsters at the monster arena can make quick work of them, that's for sure. But, the aeons are good enough to help you out in a pinch or for trying to get some Overkills.

FFVI's got to be irritating. One summon per battle, and they weren't exactly the most useful things. Yeah, they taught you stuff, but...eh.

FFVIII indeed doesn't require mass amounts of drawing, nor does it require summoning. I can get through the game just fine with no more than a total of two hours collecting magic and never summoning a GF into battle; shoot, if I wanted, I could probably get through the game with nothing more than physical attacks and good junctions.

[TheAbominatrix]

Originally posted by Kuja Highwind
FFVIII indeed doesn't require mass amounts of drawing, nor does it require summoning. I can get through the game just fine with no more than a total of two hours collecting magic and never summoning a GF into battle; shoot, if I wanted, I could probably get through the game with nothing more than physical attacks and good junctions.

We arent saying that's why VIII's system sucked. I very rarely used summons and didnt spend all my day drawing magic, either. What I am saying is the same thing as DevilMayKickAss. The summons are too over powered, and for those that rely on the constant and unrestrained casting of summons are going to end up getting their butts handed to them by Ulti, seeing as she just kills them right off. I think there should be at least a limit to how many times you can summon a GF into battle.

[PhoenixAsh]

I believe Kuja was answering in response to my posts, not as a general comment on GF haters.

There was a limit on how many times you summon, patience. If you want to wait through the animations over and over, you can, if you don't know how to play this helps. More experienced players don't need to rely on them, and hence can enjoy a faster, less repetitive game.

[playaGAW]

Originally posted by TheAbominatrix
Did you get Bahamut and Leviathon and the more advanced summons in IV, Playa? They were good all the way to the end, especially in the last battle. Bahamut kicked serious tail.

Yes 4 was the first FF I beat even though I played 8 first. I let somebody my FF Chronicles and then he moved. I think I'll now go into a deep depression.
Almost forgot Leviathon was weak in the final battle.

[TheAbominatrix]

Oh man that sucks. That happened to my original SNES copies of FFIII (VI), II (IV), Chrono Trigger, and Lufia. And my ex borrowing Anthologies and me never getting it back. And not to mention a bunch of other games my cousin borrowed and sold. And I cant find my copy of Wild ARMs 2! Feh.

And yeah, Leviathon was pretty weak in the final battle But Asura and Bahamut were kickin some butt! Weee.

[playaGAW]

I didn't use Asura in the final battle.

[Advent Child]

Best: FFVIII
I liked how they did other things then battle. For those of you who said it was cheap that you could just re-use them, summons weren't very usefull in FFVIII and I liked that. Well they weren't very usefull to cast. As juctioning and stuff worked together with the summons, and in my opinion, junction is the best system of gaining stats, FFVIII earned my best one.

Worst: FFX
This abomination of a summoning system allowed you to summon an Aeon to take a hit for you. All fine and dandy. But not only could they take a hit for you. They could also get in several attacks before taking that hit, and then once they die, it's your turn again. In my opinion this was the worst because it allowed you to fight basically through your Aeons alone. I know that's kind of the story of the game but it's also kind of stupid how you can just have one really powerfull aeon who has high speed and they can come out, take an attack (or more then 1 attack,) and then prevent you from taking any damage. The only saving grace of this system was that many bosses had the ability to instantly dispatch Aeons, but it still gave you an extra turn where the boss didn't attack.

[DMKA]

I liked how they did other things then battle. For those of you who said it was cheap that you could just re-use them, summons weren't very usefull in FFVIII and I liked that. Well they weren't very usefull to cast. As juctioning and stuff worked together with the summons, and in my opinion, junction is the best system of gaining stats, FFVIII earned my best one.

At what point was this about Stats/equipment system.....I thought we were talking about the SUMMONING system, which is what happens when you use the summon command in battle and your summon creature (ie, Shiva) comes out and does their job. So what does this have to do with the worth of the summoning system? As for the "not useful statement" well.......I've wittnessed the horrid unrestraind summoningt tactics in action, and they win the battles qicker than anything else for people who do it......hmm, must of been a different game than I played.


This abomination of a summoning system allowed you to summon an Aeon to take a hit for you. All fine and dandy. But not only could they take a hit for you. They could also get in several attacks before taking that hit, and then once they die, it's your turn again. In my opinion this was the worst because it allowed you to fight basically through your Aeons alone. I know that's kind of the story of the game but it's also kind of stupid how you can just have one really powerfull aeon who has high speed and they can come out, take an attack (or more then 1 attack,) and then prevent you from taking any damage. The only saving grace of this system was that many bosses had the ability to instantly dispatch Aeons, but it still gave you an extra turn where the boss didn't attack.

Gee that must of been a completely different version of FFX that I played....or that statement is just pure senselessness........I am not sure, all I know is I didn't play a game like that.;)

[the blitzer]

The best one was 10 because I loved the fact you could atually use them like charicters. I never used them to take hits but to kick ass.

8's was pretty good as well. That one comes in second. 4, 5 and 9 where okay. 6 and 7 were the worst because you could only summon them once. Although I like the way 6 and 8 used them for other things besides summoning.

[PhoenixAsh]

devilmaykickass stats and etc. came up shortly before you posted, it's a very large part of VIII's GF system. Obviously summoning would win the battle quicker than anything else for people who are only relying on summons, they aren't using anything else!

I don't know which version of X you played as lj's statement was VERY accurate in describing the system I played.


Actually lj made me notice how many people criticise VIII for allowing endless summoning, and yet X is praised despite having the exact same 'flaw', and they actually PROTECT your entire party at the same time.

[BG-57]

FFIV: Nice touch to make GF characters living in their own city. Good damage in battle.

FFV: Nothing to write home about, I relied more on Redx2 and Blue magic.

FFVI: Useful in some boss fights or for stat bonuses, but by the end of the game, there are both spells and weapons that do more damage. Some like Phantom, Golem and Fenrir had nifty defensive abilities. Again, I like the idea of making them characters that live in their own village.

FFVII: Fairly handy for boss fights. Later ones like KOR are serious overkill. Makes the bosses that come later too easy.

FFVIII: Gorgeous animations! More useful than magic throughout most of the game. Junctioning is a nice variation. The only problem is the animations can be time consuming.

FFIX: Funny as it sounds, I like it better when the GFs attack with just their weapons for less damage. The full power attack is too time consuming for me.

FFT: Summoning has some nice animations, but a full roster of regular magic and a Calculate skill is more useful and flexible.

I haven't played FFX, but I approve of making the GFs more interactive not less.

They haven't created a summon system that I'm perfectly happy with, because I want a FF game where the GFs *are* the main characters. If chocobos can get their own game then GFs should too! :mad2:

[DMKA]

devilmaykickass stats and etc. came up shortly before you posted, it's a very large part of VIII's GF system. Obviously summoning would win the battle quicker than anything else for people who are only relying on summons, they aren't using anything else!

Ummm yes, I know all about the "stats" coming up, but my point is, that is not the topic of the thread.........it is "whats the best/worst SUMMONING system" not "Whats the best/worst summoning/stat/ability/level up system". But I guess it is and I just don't comprehend text properly....ohh well. But summoning systems have nothing to do with learning abilities, gaining stats, and the like....its what the SUMMONS do, and if you've ever played an FF game, and been in a battle, you would of noticed a command that reads "summon". With this command you can summon various creatures of sorts to come help you in some way durning battle. But, evidently I am playing different games with the same titles.


8's was pretty good as well. That one comes in second. 4, 5 and 9 where okay. 6 and 7 were the worst because you could only summon them once. Although I like the way 6 and 8 used them for other things besides summoning.

Once again, this was supposed to be about the summoning system, not the actual "summons" themselves in any other way (or atleast thats what I gathered). And once again, I am playing different versions of these games with the same titles.....the FF7 that I played, and still play, and have played through 50+ times, and have done just about everything on, that isn't the case. I can summon my Choco/mog, Ifrit, Shiva, Kjata, Hades, KotR, Ramuh, and all the others much more than just once...there is a limited amount, which rises as you level each summons' materia up, that number rises, until the materia has been mastered, then the only limit on how many times you can summon them is your MP (which was very cool.....you had to earn the amount of times you could call them unlike others *COUGH*FF8*COUGH*), and then your MP still restrained you from cheeseing the game off.

But thats just the game that I call FF7. Apparently its not what everyone else calls FF7...heh.:eep:

[PhoenixAsh]

It is interesting that despite being totally wrong when you made that joke about FFX, and me correcting you, that you were bold enough to make the same joke about VII's. Admittedly in that case you were correct.

In VIII the stats are linked to the GF, and lay a heavy basis on which characters were equipped with which GF. Given there are only very slight differences in the actual summon command with the exception of X it seems logical to delve further. This has been done with other FF's than VIII.

On that note I'll repeat that if you criticise VIII for repeat summons (which I've already justified) then at least mention X which does the same thing, but makes the whole thing much, much easier. I also believe that in X summon sequences can be sped up, and I know that you don't lose SeeD levels, leaving it with no disadvantages at all in comparison to VIII.

[DMKA]

On that note I'll repeat that if you criticise VIII for repeat summons (which I've already justified) then at least mention X which does the same thing, but makes the whole thing much, much easier. I also believe that in X summon sequences can be sped up, and I know that you don't lose SeeD levels, leaving it with no disadvantages at all in comparison to VIII.

I played a cool game I really enjoyed. It was an RPG with amazing graphics, and a nice storyline about a man who turned out being a dream of "the fayth" and you had to save this world called "Spira" from this huge monster called "Sin" which brought him there from a millenum ago. His name was Tidus, and he was your main character. Other characters included: Yuna the Summoner who can summon mighty creatuers called "Aeons", Lulu a black mage who fights with dolls, Wakka a Blitzball team captain who fights with a blitzball, Kimarhi a blue creature that I was called a "ronso", Auron who was a badass in red and was dead the whole time, and Rikku an Al bhed who has various item skills. This game I liked very much was for the Playstation 2 Game Console (I'm sure you've heard of it, haven't you?), and on the front of the case, it said "Final Fantasy X", which I am assumeing was the title, and it had Tidus standing at a beach in the water holding his sword.

I really liked this game....its a shame people on this thread haven't played it and have apparently played a different game by the same name, and from how they're talking about it, it doesn't sound as cool....oh well, I like the one I played just fine.:)

[PhoenixAsh]

You are indeed very fortunate to have gotten your hands on a mysterious limited edition FFX with a completely different battle system to the regular version. I recommend heading down to your local game shop if you wish to gain the full FFX experience. If you live in America get an import (or the 'International' version?) for an even fuller one.

It also has a slightly different storyline where Tidus actually didn't exist a millenia ago, he lived in a parallel dream world in the same time period.

[DMKA]

You are indeed very fortunate to have gotten your hands on a mysterious limited edition FFX with a completely different battle system to the regular version. I recommend heading down to your local game shop if you wish to gain the full FFX experience. If you live in America get an import (or the 'International' version?) for an even fuller one.

A played a mysterious limited adition? SWEET! But naw, I'd rather not spend my money on the version everyone else is playing. I love my version and its just sounds like it was cooler than the other version. But thanks for the reccomendation....its highly appreciated;) .

[PhoenixAsh]

You're very welcome. It's just a shame that there isn't a forum here for you to discuss it with others. I'm pretty sure the EoFF version is based on the regular game, and it's what most people will have played.

[DMKA]

You're very welcome. It's just a shame that there isn't a forum here for you to discuss it with others. I'm pretty sure the EoFF version is based on the regular game, and it's what most people will have played.
Oh no, its actually the exact same one I have played.....I've been on that forum and its all the been the same so far, so theres no shame:D

[PhoenixAsh]

How very interesting, it appears that your luck has allowed you not only a limited edition of FFX, but also access to a hidden forum within EoFF. Perhaps this is an extension of EoEO being invisible without you being logged on...

[ZeZipster]

What how'd we get on the topic of hidden forums? Wasn't this a thread about the beast summoning system?

FF6, me thinks.

[DMKA]

How very interesting, it appears that your luck has allowed you not only a limited edition of FFX, but also access to a hidden forum within EoFF. Perhaps this is an extension of EoEO being invisible without you being logged on...

A HIDDEN THREAD!?!?!? Well....I do feel priveledged, and lucky....but it will no longer be hidden. Here everyone, THIS IS THE THREAD! (http://www.eyesonff.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=11)

[Grapefruit the mage]

The best is the system in FF X becuse you control the summon yourself. in the other final fantasys they where just a extra powerful magic(nothing wrong with poweful magic though ;)).