Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Faced in Video Games

I've faced some difficult choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to put my controller down for several minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for numerous Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what possibly is the toughest selection I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in the conventional way. You only need to explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, 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 composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. 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 trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs as an alternative and reach the summit in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the truth that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Attempting The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can opt to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid whenever you find a gift horse. The game world contains design traps that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished another time by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options leads to a genuine moment of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as others, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, naturally, opted for The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Choice

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