Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Faced in Video Games

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for numerous Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he realizes that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs instead and get to the top in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that road is bound to be filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth striving just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can decide to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid each time you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet 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. Both options results in a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

When I played, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call