Returning Summoner question

[rawker]

I mean, the lack of controllable summons before PS2 was mostly due to technical limitations. And I'd say FF10, while not my favorite, was pretty iconic and defining as far as Summoners in the series go. There's a reason the subsequent mainline games never went back to summons being just big spells.

This. It was the most logical route to take for summoners to have their own identity apart from being glorified black/white magic spell casters.