The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've faced some difficult decisions in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence prompted me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I weighed my choices. I am accountable for numerous Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what could be the hardest choice I've ever made in interactive media — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You must explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist 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 power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game provides; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality 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 Challenge could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in if they decline guidance, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid whenever you see a simple solution. The environment includes design traps that transform an easy path into a obstacle instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one results in a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than suffering through 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 shame in the steps too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call