Since their introduction over 30 years ago, the mainline Final Fantasy games have featured a diverse cast of characters, settings, and stories – each unique to their respective numbered game. And, while the entries share many similarities through castable spells and consumable items, few mainstays are as iconic as Final Fantasy’s summons.
Although it’s hard to imagine a Final Fantasy game without Shiva or Ifrit, they didn’t actually appear until the series’ third entry, and were nothing more than simple pixelated aids in battle to start. Fast forward more than 30 years and summons, or Eikons as they’re known in the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI, have seen increasing importance over the franchise’s lifespan. And with these Eikons set to be larger-than-life deities that quite literally hold the fate of the world in their hands, we thought it’s time to dive into the rich history of Final Fantasy to explore how summons have evolved throughout the years.
Although you may think summons have been around since the very beginning, summonable creatures didn’t actually show up until Final Fantasy III, released in Japan for the Famicom. But, from that point on, summons would appear in every successive mainline entry and become a staple of the series.
Final Fantasy III (not to be confused with the US version of Final Fantasy III on SNES, which is actually Final Fantasy VI – but don’t worry, we won’t get too hung up on numbers here) introduced the Job system, and alongside it, the Summoner class. Well, technically three summoning classes: Evoker, Sage, and Summoner, each possessing the ability to call upon more powerful help in battle.
And now, the trailer for Final Fantasy XVI just dropped, and yep, there be summons here! So let’s dig into the evolution of the Final Fantasy summons!
#IGN #FinalFantasy16 #Gaming
