Final Fantasy is perhaps the first thing that comes to the mind of anyone when the term “JRPG” is uttered, and it’s easy to see why this is the case. The fact of the matter is that this series has become one of the most prominent and well-rounded franchises that has established and innovated the genre itself as we know it. This is not to say that Final Fantasy is the reason that JRPGs even exist in the first place — there are probably bigger franchises with better games that any fan of the genre can recount from memory. However, in the terms of greatness, nothing comes close to the mainstream prevalence of Final Fantasy in the gaming world. There are numerous innovations in the series that have become a staple in JRPGs, and for good reason.
Take, for example, the concept of summons. These behemoths of the genre are truly amazing in every sense of the word, and watching these colossal titans on your screen for the very first time must’ve been an unforgettable gaming experience for any JRPG player. Final Fantasy has arguably spearheaded the prevalence of summons in this domain, and the sheer wealth of creatures that you can summon have become a household name in the genre, making multiple appearances across the series.
However, not all of these creatures are great. In fact, a lot of them are hit-or-miss since they don’t really end up being a massive help in the long run. So, here are 2o of the most useless summons in the game, coupled with 10 of the best — because we’re positive like that.
30 WORST: Titan
Now, don’t get us wrong. Titan is one of the coolest summons of all time, and his appearance in Final Fantasy XV is definitely one of the most iconic of them all. However, at the same time, one needs to take into account the functionality of summons as well.
His attack can completely miss airborne enemies.
Imagine your frustration when you are fighting a particularly tough airborne enemy, and you decide to try this summon out to help you in a pinch… only to realize he’s woefully inept against the very enemy you’re trying to get rid of.
It’s incredibly frustrating.
29 WORST: Gilgamesh
Gilgamesh is definitely one of the coolest characters around, and the fact of the matter is that his appearances in the Final Fantasy games have been pretty memorable. However, as is the case with the aforementioned entry, functionality is also a key part of any summon.
In Final Fantasy VIII, Gilgamesh is a substantial downgrade from Odin.
Unlike the guaranteed manner in which Odin will completely wipe out an enemy in the game, Gilgamesh’s attacks are more varying and unpredictable. It’s not like he’s a major hindrance in any way, shape, or form… but Odin’s just better.
28 BEST: Knights Of The Round
Time to take a look at what is arguably the most powerful summon in Final Fantasy history — that is, if you happen to ignore the ones from Final Fantasy XV, which are in an entirely different league.
Knights Of The Round boasts a power level that is unassailable.
The steps to obtain this materia are quite complex in Final Fantasy VII, and can end up eating up into your game time by a substantial extent. However, the end result is amazing, since it allows for what just might be the most powerful attack in the game by a considerable margin.
27 WORST: Brothers
Ah, the curse of an Earth-based summon strikes again — this time, in the form of the Brothers summon from Final Fantasy VIII. It’s pretty telling that this summon only makes a solitary appearance in the series, which goes to show just how forgettable this summon actually is.
Their annoying summon animation can also get somewhat grating over time. Watching the same game of rock-paper-scissors play out time and time again is a good enough reason for the player to never use the summon more than a few times.
26 WORST: Kujata
Multi-elemental attacks need to be utilized in a judicious manner if one wishes to maximize their damage output. However, the problem with these powerful attacks is that, by the time you actually learn them, most of the enemies you face will have the power to either nullify or absorb at least one element.
This makes Kujata — a summon you get a fair ways into Final Fantasy VII — quite useless. It would’ve been fine if the attacks happened individually, but unfortunately, the damage output is calculated all at once. Thus, if an enemy has a resistance to even one element, then the entire attack is rendered useless.
25 BEST: Phoenix
If one wants to talk about practical summon attacks, then Phoenix pretty much takes the cake in that regard. If you wanted to utilize a summon that could hurt the enemy while simultaneously healing and resurrecting your party members, then this summon should be your go-to casting choice.
Utility summons are obviously great for such reasons, and the fact that Phoenix looks pretty as a casting choice of top of anything else makes it one of the best summons in the game by a long shot.
24 WORST: Cactuar
The Cactuar is one of the most iconic enemies in the game, and their status as unofficial game mascots is certainly understandable. However, don’t get us wrong — Cactuars as enemies are completely fine, but as a summon? Phssh.
The Cactuar is actually obtainable as a summon in Final Fantasy VIII after you defeat the optional Jumbo Cactuar boss. While he’s a great summon for building up stats and utilizing the min-max strategy, he’s not particularly interesting or exciting to be constantly used.
23 WORST: Bomb
Using normal enemies as summons is quite boring, which the aforementioned entry should’ve made quite clear by this point. And yet, for some reason, Final Fantasy IV allows you to use a Bomb as a summon.
Bombs are iconic enemies from the Final Fantasy series, and one need only take a look at the number of times they’ve made an appearance in the series to see just how prevalent they are. However, using this monster as a summon isn’t exactly fun — in fact, it’s downright boring.
22 BEST: Eden
Final Fantasy VIII’s summons are truly something else. Utilizing the hardware of the original PlayStation to its fullest extent, it must be said that the game truly showcased just how awesome the summons could be if done right.
No summon indicates this better than Eden. By far the most powerful Guardian Force in the game by a long shot, the fact that you obtain this summon by drawing it from none other than Ultima Weapon is quite awesome in itself.
21 WORST: Cockatrice
Label me as much as you want, but it’s just boring to use normal enemies as summons. I won’t be surprised if the only people who actually even bothered to obtain these summons were just psychotic completionists who wanted nothing more than just bragging rights.
The Cockatrice is one of the mainstay enemies in Final Fantasy, but in the fourth iteration of the series they were more than just a source of experience — they also served as a summon for Rydia that could petrify enemies, which was not special at all.
20 WORST: Goblin
Don’t think for a second that we’ll move on from the mediocre summons in Final Fantasy IV. After all, we are yet to discuss what might just be the most infamous summon of them all to grace our screens — a freaking Goblin, notorious for being the easiest enemies in any JRPG by a country mile (along with the slime).
And yet, for some unfathomable reason, Final Fantasy IV decided to place this creature as a summon in the game. Performing the weak Goblin Punch attack that does minimal damage to the enemy, there’s honestly no reason to try and obtain this summon save for completionist purposes.
19 BEST: Doomtrain
Doomtrain initially made an iconic appearance in the sixth iteration of the series, although players remember him for all the wrong reasons. Sabin was able to suplex an entire moving train during this boss fight, making him memorable among the Final Fantasy faithful.
He also made an appearance in Final Fantasy VIII as a Guadian Force. Summoning him against a tough enemy was quite a useful thing, since — among various other effects — Doomtrain could also inflict the “Vit 0” status on the enemy, allowing you to dish out oodles of damage with relative ease.
18 WORST: Mindflayer
The Mindflayer is an annoying enemy from the series that can prove to be quite a headache at times if not handled correctly. And — as is the tradition in Final Fantasy IV — you can also obtain him as a summon, although there’s no point in doing so since there’s little to no incentive in doing so.
His Mind Blast attack is quite annoying to deal with, since it inflicts a fair bit of damage, Sap, and Paralysis on the target. However, doing the same to your enemies isn’t exactly all that rewarding since it’s quicker to just perform a high-damage attack and finish them off.
17 WORST: Whyt
It seems that Final Fantasy IV really is the dark horse when it comes to the repertoire of summons that it has. We’ve already discussed the random monster summons in the game, but — unfortunately — that’s not the end of the mediocre summonable creatures.
In order to cash in on the gimmick of the Nintendo DS, Square Enix decided to include a summon called Whyt, whose face could be designed using a stylus. However, the summon is fairly weak, and the only way to increase its power is by playing a ton of mind-numbing minigames that you’re honestly better off without.
16 BEST:
One might debate the usability of Ark as a summon. After all, the only way one can get this summon in Final Fantasy IX is by defeating both the game’s super bosses. Ozma gives the party one of the two Pumice pieces, while Hades’ defeat allows access to the synthesis where a Pumice can be forged.
By using this Pumice on Dagger, she can learn the summon Ark, allowing her to deal devastating levels of damage to her enemies. By the time you finally obtain this summon, you might not even need his power, but it’s still a great addition to your arsenal nevertheless.
15 WORST: Eggman
Who’d have thought that a summon in the shape of an egg would’ve made it in something so sacred as the Final Fantasy series? However, it seems that the only reason that this summon exists is to serve as punishment for utilizing one particular item in Final Fantasy V a bit too much — namely, the Magic Lamp.
In the starting, the Magic Lamp is actually quite powerful, allowing you to summon powerful creatures like Bahamut, Odin, and Leviathan. However, as it loses power, it’ll only summon a weak Chocobo. If the player still doesn’t learn a lesson and summons the Chocobo a total of 20 times, then Eggman will come instead and fail at using his “Egg Chop” maneuver.
14 WORST: Crusader
Crusader is one of the most powerful summons in Final Fantasy VI. It boasts a magic power of 190, which is by far one of the highest magic stats in the game by a country mile, save for Kefka’s Forsaken or Gilgamesh’s Enkidu (the latter of which was added later in the Advance version).
So, you might be asking — why is this summon grouped amongst the worst in Final Fantasy history? Well, the reason might be because Crusader’s attack targets the entire freakin’ party. If you don’t have the Reraise status on at least one of your party members, then the Game Over screen awaits after you summon this powerful being.
13 BEST: Cerberus
Cerberus is a pretty awesome beast, and his appearances across the series have been quite memorable. From the additional boss fight in Final Fantasy XV: Royal/Windows edition, all the way to an appearance as a Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII — while Cerberus’ appearances have been sporadic, they’ve still been quite memorable.
In fact, in Final Fantasy VIII, summoning Cerberus leads to him casting Double and Triple on your party, which is obviously helpful if one wants to multicast White Magic on the party or deal some substantial damage to a particularly challenging enemy.
12 WORST: Fat Chocobo
Yes, we know that this summon was added as a joke in Final Fantasy VII. However, that still doesn’t take away from the fact that the Fat Chocobo summon is pretty crap, and becomes incredibly ineffective over time.
Perhaps the worst part is that this is actually the stronger version of the summon that might happen if you use the “Chocobo” summon. That, my friends, is a special tale reserved for the next entry.
11 WORST: Choco/Mog
The Chocobo summon materia is the first summon materia you receive in Final Fantasy VII after you escape Midgar. It’ll certainly witness some heavy use from your part in the early goings, and why not? You’re obviously excited at the prospect of finally using a summon in the Final Fantasy series.
However, it’s recommended that you manage your expectations. We’re certainly not denying the effectiveness of this summon, but it soon becomes a thing of the past due to the wealth of options you’ll obtain in the category of summons. Also, while watching a dizzy Mog getting whisked away by a Chocobo might sound funny, it quickly becomes boring after a while.
