Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Faced in Video Games

I've faced some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in a video game — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. Definitely not in the conventional way. You only need to navigate a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. 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

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth striving just to prove a point?

The steps, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you see a simple solution. The environment includes planned obstacles that change a secure way into a setback instantly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, opted for The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Choice

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