Now that I’m starting to run out of topics, it’s time I talk about my favourite aspect of the franchise, the summons. The main reason (At first) that Final Fantasy X kept my attention so well was because of Yuna’s ability, as a summoner believe it or not, to summon incredibly powerful beasts to aid the party in battle.
Then again in Final Fantasy XII, the summons you could give to any member of your party were so interesting and unique that I loved defeating and using them to gain an edge in battle. The below summons are in no particular order as they are just the five I want to talk about most, but could be considered for some of the best and most interesting Final Fantasy summons from the games that I’ve played. A reminder, I’ve only played X, XII, the XIII trilogy and XV.
Who doesn’t love a thunder dragon? Absolutely no one, that’s who. Arguably the best base level summon in the game (I wish he was a higher tier, I.E. stronger), I still summoned him at every opportunity to clear out groups of enemies I couldn’t be bothered to fight myself. Granted, he was fairly useless in challenging battles against boss monsters, but his bombardment of electric attacks and intimidating appearance makes him one of my clear favourites from Final Fantasy XII.
A fiery knight who transforms into a race car. I shit you not, that’s a thing. Also it has high heels, an axe and a cape. I can barely believe it either! The synergy between Sazh and his Eidolon is perfect, from his ‘there you are’ when it appears after the summoning sequence to how Sazh joyfully jumps into the cockpit when Brynhildr enters its Gestalt (Vehicle) mode. Brynhildr is the best summon in Final Fantasy XIII, with no other coming close to how great it is.
The very definition of pay-to-win, Yojimbo will not attack your enemies unless you pay him, up front, during battle. No need to dive for your security blanket as you can only pay in-game money and micro-transactions weren’t a ‘thing’ back in the PS2 days. I distinctly remember the ‘exploit’ where if you paid him a large amount of money, plus one (I.E. 100,001 gil) he would always use Zanmato, his one hit kill ability that could be used to immediately dispatch any enemy in the game, including bosses. I’m not sure if this has made its way into the Playstation 4 iteration of this title, but it was alive and well in the Playstation 3 version.
Money was fairly useless in FFX, and easy to come by, so there was nothing to lose from paying the toll whenever you wanted a particularly challenging battle out the way. Of course, with payment, Yojimbo is more than happy to oblige.
Most of the Final Fantasy XV summons deserve a spot on this list, but as Ramuh is the one who appeared most in both of my 70+ hours of this game, he gets the top pick. A lightning God, titled as ‘The Fulgarian’ in the games lore, Ramuh appears as an old man in a massive cape (With popped collar for extra street cred) with a staff who sends gigantic bolts of lightning to obliterate Noctis’ enemies and scorch the surrounding area to achieve victory. Unlocked relatively early in the game, and one of the most keen to appear in battle, Ramuh helped me out of some sticky situations to secure himself a place on this list. I wonder if he ever still thinks about me..
Oddly, Titan didn’t appear once for me in either play-through, which I completed on different consoles, leading me to the reasonable conclusion he’s a complete prick.
A really weird metal thing with a massive jug. Somebody should fill it with beer and send them round my house. In all honesty, I don’t know why I like Famfrit so much, but if I had to pick one thing it would be how odd he/she/it looks. Titled ‘The Darkening Cloud’ (Wonder what game that reminds me of!), there is an ominous aura from every aspect of this summon. Costing three ‘mist charges’ to summon, it is ranked as one of the most powerful Espers in the game, a fact that is supported whenever it utilises its devastating Tsunami ability.
And there you have it, my top five favourite Final Fantasy summons. Let me know yours in the comments and on Twitter @MaliceVER or @RespawningUK
That’s all from me for Final Fantasy month, and I’ll be back to talking about other games next week. Don’t be surprised if Final Fantasy related things still crop up regularly, as it’s harder to get me to stop talking about it than it is to cancel XV’s second season pass… Apparently!!
I will always have a soft spot for the summons that Garnet and Eiko could summon in FF9. Just the whole game tbh haha.