The details for Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 are still a bit scant, but that hasn't stopped fans of the game from already listing off changes they hope the game makes from the first installment. In a game like Final Fantasy VII Remake, fans obviously expected changes. After all, it's a remake of a game that's over twenty years old, so it was obvious developer Square Enix was going to shake some things up. One of these major changes, however, is the way summons work compared to their function in the original Final Fantasy VII

In the original, summons like Shiva and Ifrit come out, release a powerful move, and then leave the battlefield. The summons in FF7 Remake work differently — they stick around and help Cloud and his friends against enemies for a limited time. It's an interesting alteration, and one that most fans seem okay with, but the animations definitely take a hit. Hopefully, Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2 will change that.

Related: What Will Change In Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 2?

The summons in the original Final Fantasy 7 were a spectacle. They featured epic, long-running animations that were especially impressive in 1997, when FF7 first released. The playable characters would completely disappear and a summon would enter the fight, with a miniature movie illustrating how grandiose and powerful they were, and this was followed closely with animations showing off the summon's signature move. Some of these animations, like Odin's Gunge Lance ability, lasted well over thirty seconds. The most powerful summon in FF7, Knights of the Round, showed thirteen medieval knights attacking individually in an epic showcase of strength — and the full animation lasts a minute and a half. It's so memorable that fans of the game still talk about it today, but by streamlining the animations in FF7 Remake, the grandiosity of summoning has mostly been lost.

FF7 Remake Part 2 Needs To Mimic The Original's Summons

Final Fantasy Chocobo Moogle Summon Materia

This isn't to say the summons in the first FF7 Remake don't have animations — they do. Ifrit, for example, swings quickly into battle, fights for a limited time, and then executes a powerful, fully-animated finishing move before leaving. Even less-fearsome summons like the cutesy Carbuncle get short bursts of animation. But because summons stay on the battlefield for an extended period of time, a bit of the original's magic is missing. The entrance scenes and finishing moves are split up, which just doesn't feel as awe-inspiring as the animations in the original.

These kinds of cuts and changes would feel especially detrimental to summons like Knights of the Round, which is remembered just as much for the incredible damage it could cause as it is for the sheer length of its animated sequence. Reducing such a powerful summon to a measly 5-10 seconds just wouldn't feel the same.

Shortening the animations were likely an attempt to streamline content Square Enix thought players wouldn't enjoy. But if the success of FF7 Remake has shown the company anything, it's that taking the time to flesh out people and places (and even summons) can work wonders. After all, FF7 Remake is a game that can take well over 40 hours to beat, and it's based off content that lasted a fraction of that time in the original. This same philosophy built around growing and expanding could — and should — go into FF7 Remake Part 2's summons.

Next: Will FF7 Remake Part 2 Have Chocobo Racing?