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

I've encountered some difficult choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am accountable for numerous Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations compare to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it concerns a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in the conventional way. You simply have to explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. During his adventure, he meets a collection of quirky personalities 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 most hilarious scene. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase instead and arrive at the peak in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is revolves around the reality that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Attempting The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, 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 decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment 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 Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

When I played, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call