Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Faced in Gaming

I've encountered some difficult choices in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section led me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what now might be the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. At least not in the conventional way. You only need to explore a vast game world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all arises from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. During his adventure, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to help him out. 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 falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route named The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and get to the top in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid each time you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that change a secure way into a setback suddenly. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path results in a genuine moment of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as capable as others, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps too. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Experience

During my game, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call