The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've dealt with some hard decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to set down my controller for several minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for numerous Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the most difficult decision I've ever made in interactive media — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. At least not in the conventional way. You only need to navigate a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that walking through it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all comes from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, 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) shows up to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in if they turn away a map, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty on a dime. Is the staircase one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished once again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a genuine moment of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Experience

When I played, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call