Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've faced some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am responsible for so many 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 most difficult decision I’ve had to make in a video game — and it concerns a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and reach the summit in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion each time you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished another time by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a real situation of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps too. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Choice

During my game, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call