Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in a Game

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section led me to put my controller down for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that walking through it is a challenge, as years spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. During his adventure, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route named The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and get to the top in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the truth that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Attempting The Challenge could be a time where he can prove that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely filled with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in about they turn away a map, but they can opt to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion whenever you see a simple solution. The environment includes planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a setback instantly. Is the staircase one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path brings about a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as others, willingly taking on a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase too. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

During my game, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call