Its true that ff XI is the first thought that comes to mind when I think of jobs, I also spent a good 13+ years playing it.
But you look at other lore and other ff games and the trend is still the same. Every ff game that I can recall off the top of my head smn's actually summoned alot of different 'primals'
Drg - yes ff XI they had a dragon companion but it you also look at the lore of a drg they were dragon masters. Look at the game legend of dragoon they drew their powers from dragons, other games like suikoden drg's rode on dragons and battled together. There is tons of lore in various forms about drg's and it always revolves around drawing thier strength from dragons or having a dragon companion.
Brd and ranger have always been 2 separate jobs in the ff series and I don't think they've ever been combined like in XIV
Nin and thief have always been separate jobs too with unique skills just like brd and ranger haven't really been ever combined
