Part 5: Battling in the badlands.

So after getting thrown out of his tribe’s cave along with his ape buddy and new girlfriend, Ayla had about five seconds to think before this pair of sabretooth tigers tried to kill him. Prehistory was not an easy place to live.



As you might have guessed, the main idea of fighting these things is ‘stay away from the end with teeth’.



Seriously. Especially with Gori, because his defence is nearly nonexistent.



Although this does give me a chance to mention something… There are no revival items in this game. Instead, you can use any source of healing at all to get someone back on their feet. (I didn’t bother using the Giant Meaty Bone here.)

The trade-off? If someone gets hit again with no HP, they get removed from battle and forced to use the worse experience formula for that fight.



The pair of tigers have an EXP value of 8, so Bel levels up in a single fight. In fact, most encounters in this area share the same value, so expect our group to rocket up a couple of levels here.



The sad music will continue all across this area until we get the next plot point. The plains don’t have a whole lot to see outside of new encounters, so let’s cover the highlights.



Ayla learns Boom Boom at level 6, a leaping attack that knocks the enemy back and turns them around, but will sometimes lower Ayla’s speed. It’s alright.



Wooly mammoths roam the plains, so Ayla can finally realise his dream of hunting them. The dangerous spot for these guys consists of the three panels directly below them, where they will use Crush Underfoot and wreck you royally. Male or female, encountering one is worth an EXP value of 10.



Up in the northwest part of the plains, there’s a craftsmen caveman in case you need some new gear.



Ayla learns Gotcha!, a draining attack that can lower enemy vitality and power, and give them to Ayla instead. Oh, and there are Moas out here too.



Bel learns an instant healing technique at level 3 which can buff power as an added bonus. Disturbance is an attack we’ll see in a few chapters, and the level drain is always a mild annoyance.



As the sun begins to set, we manage to find a stone head near the northeast corner, close to our intended destination. We can’t do anything with it right now, but remember that it’s here.



Mere frames later, the game throws a 9 EXP value encounter at us. The six sabretooths can really do a number on you, unless…



You take advantage of crowd control. My positioning was actually poorly chosen here; if you target the space Bel is on, it will hit the top two as well. Putting five out of six tigers to sleep immediately is a great way to trivialize this encounter.



As night rolls in, Ayla gets to demonstrate that beloved trick of cavemen everywhere: how to make fire. The charge time is a bit long with Ayla’s current speed, but the fire field left behind deals 24 damage with every tick.



Ah, much better. After that, the next interesting thing is when Bel hits level 7, learning her final technique.





Laa Laa has to be charged, but it’s basically the equivalent of bringing a tactical nuke to a gunfight. It hits a 5x5 area, and can be targeted up to three spaces away in any of eight directions.



Alright, that’s enough messing around. Bel is level 7 while the guys are both level 9. Let’s progress.



By the way, Zaki hasn’t given up on getting Bel back.



Uh-oh. Looks like they heard us coming.



Might as well light a fire though.



...Ayla doesn’t treat Gori very well.



Some hungry rumbling is heard from both Ayla and Bel’s stomachs.



Gori makes a different kind of rumbling.



Okay, so maybe Gori deserves it.



At least Ayla and Bel can laugh it off. _{While Gori lies nearby, beaten unconscious.}

-------



Ah, what a pleasant scene. Such nice music. Ayla and Bel, all alone amongst a sea of flowers.



Alas, the reality of things is not quite as cheery. Come back here, you clowns!



And of course, Zaki takes a cheap shot.



His pride won’t let him pass up this chance to repay Ayla for earlier.



So, Zaki round 2. He doesn’t seem to be as strong as before, and Ayla’s added levels aren’t helping matters.



So I mess around a little this time to show off a new technique. Ohh! Ohh! hits the entire field for about 50-60 damage after a brief charge. It’s great for hordes of weaker enemies.



Zaki goes down like a sack of bricks after just three attacks.

(Music stops.)





And this time, don’t come back!

...Wait, he still has Bel.



Gori, get your lazy ass up.



Hmm… Hmm.



Let’s see if the ape can do any better.



Gori, you total dick. You’re lucky that worked.



...Well, shit. Zaki has placed the world’s most obvious trap, but we’re going to have to fall for it.



-------



Ayla finds himself in the field of flowers again, but this time he’s all alone. Run in any direction for a while, and…



...Huh.



-------



Well, that was something I’d like to unsee. And also we’re caught in Zaki’s trap.



The only sound is the wind blowing, and there’s a lot of scents around. Two of them are Meaty Bones, which you can pick up if you find them in this dark maze. Most of the scents are skulls, and one smells of Zaki.



There are only three kinds of enemies down here, and two of them are these reptilian beasties. As with the tigers, stay away from the teeth. Encounters with these are worth 5, 8 or 10 depending on how many females appear.



Gori quickly learns BlumBlum, a strong AoE skill with barely any charge time. The downside is that it might lower his power.





The two bones are in the left-hand column and near the bottom-right corner.



Oh, and these are our other enemies down here. The Cackle Moles have 10 HP and a paltry EXP value of 5. You can also find a single one with an EXP value of 1. They are mostly fodder.



Unless you stumble into the tiny and very specific range of their Bite. Other than that, their alternate attack will deal 0-1 damage at our levels. It will push you back though, and being moved interrupts charging attacks. And just to kick you in the shins one more time, they’re pretty evasive.



Once the spot that smells of Zaki is found, Ayla can bust out and go get his girlfriend back!



I… wha… ba… Damn it, Gori.



The Ku tribe’s home is just a short walk west from here, but we have one more set of random encounters to deal with.



These things don’t do much damage at all, but they have a lot of health. This encounter is one of the two most rewarding in this area, boasting an EXP value of 12. Most of the others have 11, aside from a couple of outdated enemies with 7.



Aside from the rhino-like enemies, the only new faces are these Moa-type enemies (that don’t cause shockwaves or fire railguns ).



Gori leans his final move when he hits level 11, which works much like Ayla’s Gotcha! (so both of them have a source of healing at least).



Another of you guys? Well, I guess I can make something…



Stone Knife+Hard Rock makes this item, which can be used in two different ways. As an accessory, it reduces speed by 10 and boosts your evasion of various IQ-based attacks. But it also functions as an infinite-use item while unequipped; after a brief charge time, it heals a 3x3 area and provides a good selection of stat boosts.



Alright, this is it. Let’s bust on into the Ku tribe’s place.



The front way in is guarded (sort of), so let’s poke around up this other path.



It’s not a long walk. Just head up to the edge, and…



Oh no.



Well, guess at least five guys didn’t know to get out of the way of the smitten gorilla.



And now we have a way in! Don’t go into the left or middle doors, by the way. They have Ku tribe encounters inside that give lousy experience, and start throwing out guys afterward that harass you whenever you’re in the area.



The shelves hold crafting junk I’m far past caring about (Hide, Hard Rock, Stone Knife), and… Oh boy.



...So a pink gorilla just jiggled her breasts in Ayla’s face. I think we’re done here.