Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've faced some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to put my controller down for several minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what possibly is the hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it concerns a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in the conventional way. You only need to explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as years spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all comes from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the truth that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more humiliating failures. Is it justified suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they decline guidance, but they can opt to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path results in a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase too. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, opted for The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Experience

During my game, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call