5 minutes. The hourly demonstration only took 5 minutes. Enchanted by the world of baby steps, we have confirmed the promises that developers Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch and Bennett Foddy have in store for us. Baby Step takes Nate the simple premise of a man on the sofa who needs to find a way to go home after being transported to another world. It all starts easily. You need to wake up in a new world and place the other foot forward by lifting Nate’s legs and thighs in an almost rhythmic way and letting him walk. During the preview, I climbed natural staircases made of rocks, walked through narrow timber beams, and climbed the ruins of the destroyed carousel from the circus, each of whom grasped control. Every place brought new challenges and obstacles, and new ways that I had to think about going beyond and past them.
Walking through the game sounds very simple, but the complexity and most important challenge in Baby Steps is completing the way you control the main character. Walking 99% of the game is as easy as lifting up an analog stick or pressing assigned keys on your keyboard. However, in baby steps, walking is not simple as the left analog stick still controls Nate’s feet with the bumper and trigger while still inducing movement. Like QWOP, this took some time to get used to, leading to insignificant amounts of flops, falls and set-offs. But in Baby Steps, all those set-offs are just part of your journey, and the story of learning to put Nate’s foot in front of the other tests the fight by crossing the landscape decorated with natural, unnatural slopes, stairs, mountains and other obstacles, and taking control of him.
Baby Steps is becoming the biggest world from the team that brought QWOP, made it appear in the monkeys and overcome with Bennett Fody. During my session they stated that I was the fourth person to play that day and that I was on a different path as each of us explored. There’s a great joke about that, but Baby Steps continues in the footsteps of several other recent open world games, but goes further. There are no instructions to guide Nate on his journey, no maps, markers, or radar – nothing. You only have your intuition to guide you. If the lost cup is found and returned, you may find a sign that offers a reward. You’ll probably see circus ruins, or something hanging from a tree hanging from the edge of a nearby mountain. All of these are baby steps ways to tell you to go somewhere and it works very well. I never felt lost in this vast open world, or knew where to go, what to do, or how to overcome obstacles. The biggest challenge is not finding a way somewhere, but by properly moving Nate, you can maneuver around narrow shelves, increasing the height and finding where you can reach the next scaffolding or surface.
Yellow paint is clearly not immersive for some people. When chatting with teams about it, they talked about how it helps, but is a tool for developers to tell the right way to get from point A to B, but Baby Steps doesn’t use it. Even if you’re going to achieve it, that’s the right way. Currently, some methods are certainly easier than others, but even the mileage varies based on your experience and determination. The team expects some players to spend too early and see passes that take the easier route, then after becoming familiar with Control and Nate’s abilities, they return that tougher route and try it out.
There are also benefits to adopting some of these more demanding routes and exploring the ability to perceive more challenging areas. Hidden little treats and bonuses are scattered throughout. The ruins of that circus carousel I mentioned earlier actually had a funny little hat at the top. The catch is that these rewards are not permanent. Immediately, I fell over while wearing it and found a hat at the bottom of a rock outcrop. The development team is totally hoping that players will create their own challenges, such as “Can I win this game without losing this hat?” This may sound like a tough challenge, but you only take one wrong step when you climb a mountain, fall across a thin passage, or watch your hat go towards the bottom. It’s not just hats that collect. I won’t ruin the cup details I mentioned previously. It’s a fun treat for some fans, but it gave me a good idea about the type of humor that Baby Steps has for players and the extra challenges.
Speaking of humor, some cutscenes I was able to find by reaching different places were laughing during the preview. These cutscenes have a kind of absurd humor that stuck to me. The closest thing I can compare them is some of the wall humor that I might see in the Rooney Tunes episode. Nate isn’t the only person in this new world, but he seems the most troublesome. Certainly, the NPCs I met were not accurate either. From what I’ve seen so far, Nate’s personality is a blend between a stereotypical child who lives with his parents and someone who faces difficulties rather than interacting with people who are not comfortable with them, past the point that many consider healthy. This trait becomes clear from the beginning of the game when he meets the first thing I want.
There are also some interesting habits in sound design and music. When he hears Nate’s collisions, influences and sounds as he slaps his face or body first into the world around him, you feel you get when you watch the show, someone gets kicked into the gro caliber or stub your toes. Now, whether I fell from a 20-foot rock or not, it’s a little more accessible to those who might be worried about dying in a game like this, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say, from what I can say What accompanies the environment is the sounds of nature, birds’ calls, insects’ calls, frogs’ calls, and various animals come together to create a discrepancy yet harmonious soundtrack to explore.
I don’t know what the future of baby steps will look like. At first glance, there are many things, but I think it’s the most familiar entry in the studio. Many others combine different elements and mechanisms to varying degrees. Many open world games take pride in removing markers from the map and encouraging players to live and interact with the world. Physics-based games have been around for a long time in many different ways that ragdoll a character or use it to influence the world around the character. But something about the combination of these elements of Baby Steps and their unique control schemes, I believe it is special. The team’s approach to just relaxing players in a strange world full of obstacles, challenges and secrets isn’t necessarily new, but the way they combine it feels fresh enough to reach a dedicated fanbase, as well as reach a new audience and welcome the unique style.
