Is frustration enjoyable? No, of course not. But, subjecting oneself to long stretches of frustration just for that fleeting satisfaction of overcoming a nightmarish obstacle? Now you’re talking my language.
Baby Steps is a literal walking simulator made by devious minds to punish their players. And being a sucker for punishment myself, this game turns platforming hell into one hell of a good time.
Steppin’ Out
Baby Steps puts players into the shoes of Nate, an unemployed slacker who does little more than sink into the couch in his parent’s basement. After a mysterious force transports him to a completely foreign wasteland, Nate relies on his own two feet to climb to new and greater heights on a noble quest in search of a toilet to relieve himself.
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The story is a complete headspin. You’ll encounter a snarky Australian who proudly speaks of his unimpressive monuments across the land. A hyperactive hiker who is overly eager to offer unwanted help and advice. A gang of debaucherous man-donkeys who are always hanging dong. Seriously, this game has so many penises. There is an option to censor the nudity in the game, but the drug references and frequent swearing still prevent this from being a family-friendly game.
The humour is charming, though often puerile. For as childish as I can be, some moments felt even too juvenile for me. But it’s unlike any other story I’ve seen in a video game. Across Nate’s journey, welcome emotional depth is added to his character, even if it’s applied with a very light touch.
You Put Your Right Foot In, You Take Your Right Foot Out
Baby Steps follows the lineage of co-creator Bennett Foddy’s awkward controlling games, QWOP and Getting Over It. Players move through this gargantuan open world by pressing the left and right trigger to lift Nate’s respective legs and using the left stick to position those legs and lean the torso. The right stick controls the camera and the general direction Nate is heading in.
At first, I felt like I was never going to get the hang of it. I figured I’d have to bail on this whole review. But it’s amazing how the repetition of stepping repeatedly forced me to get better. After an hour, moving became second nature.
But that’s not to say that the game became easy. This is a title in which you’ll fail over and over again and frequently lose large chunks of progress due to a single mistake. There aren’t difficulty settings because this needling frustration is a fundamental design principle. It demands precision and punishes impatience and if this sounds like it’s not up your alley, I’m confident you will not enjoy this game.
Beyond that, there’s not much more to describe about the gameplay. Don’t expect waypoints, upgrades or clearly defined missions. The lack of basic quality of life features is actually a running joke in the dialogue. You’re simply let loose to find your own way through the world. This unrestrained freedom makes Baby Steps feel like the Breath Of The Wild of games where you really need to chuck a piss.
With that said, none of this would work if the level design didn’t deliver the goods.
A Sole New World
Baby Steps’ sprawling open world is masterfully constructed and it’s why this entire crazy project succeeds. Climbing games are having a bit of a moment this year, whether it’s the huge popularity of Peak or the upcoming release of Cairn. What separates Baby Steps is how much just exploring aimlessly feels core to the game’s identity.
Every inch of the world feels thoughtfully designed to give some justification for players to just wander. Sometimes it’s the way that the surface of the terrain gently nudges you towards a goal. Other times, it’s when you’ll fall and lose a bunch of progress only to discover you’ve fallen somewhere that opens up a whole new area to explore. The scope is jaw-dropping, and while the game partially achieves that by severely limiting your character’s movement, the world really does feel like it extends endlessly.
The environment is full of secrets and trinkets that reveal new cutscenes, giving you reasons to go off the beaten path. With that said, I don’t know that diving deep into optional content is the wisest move for a first play-through. You’ll spend a lot of time getting frustrated trying to push through the main story, and you can re-visit it once you develop a better sense of your surroundings.
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Graphically, the game does sometimes resemble a bunch of store-bought assets jammed together and I suspect that may actually be the case. But it’s done with a level of care that encourages exploration and rewards engaging with the environment. The different biomes of the game reveal a great deal of visual variety as well.
The game also ran well on my OLED Steam Deck, achieving a consistent 40fps on low settings, which didn’t hamper the experience in any meaningful way.
Toe-Tapping Tunes
The dynamic soundtrack suits the frustrating experience of navigating this world perfectly. The score, if you can even call it that, is often a collage of annoying sounds clashing together in a musical rhythm. Imagine squawking birds, cannon fire and lawnmowers overlapping and building in tension as you’re trying to carefully tip-toe across a precarious bridge.
These backing tracks emerge based on your gameplay, making sure the game scores your most difficult moments with the appropriate maddening cacophony. It’s unusually quite gleeful.
The problem is it’s not all working as intended. During my play-through, I hit long stretches where the backing soundtrack dropped out, or areas where environmental noises loudly cut in and out based on how I angled my camera. The dev team has acknowledged that the sound design is still evolving. I trust that it will get there, but it’s a shame that it’s not quite ready for launch.
Aside from that, I didn’t encounter any other issues with the audio in the game. The awkwardly improvised dialogue is quite whimsical, and if you aren’t used to the extreme Australian accents of some of the characters, subtitles will go a long way.
Foot Note
Baby Steps is the dictionary definition of an acquired taste. A quick look at a trailer will indicate if you think you’re the right audience for this game. If I was describe it in one word, I’d go with ‘nasty’. But this game accomplishes the very odd things it sets out to do with a deranged confidence and a wry smile that carried me through the whole cursed journey.
The combination of a convoluted but logical movement system, an ingenious open world and a bizarre quirky story created a unique gaming experience that I can’t compare to much else. While some of the humour doesn’t land and the sound design needs a little more time in the oven, Baby Steps is a game that knows how to put its best foot forward.
Quest Daily scores Baby Steps:
8.5/10
Baby Steps is available September 24 on PlayStation 5 and Steam.
A review code for Baby Steps was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
