The Game Baby Steps Features Among the Most Significant Choices I've Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've faced some challenging choices in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments led me to put my controller down for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities 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 interactive media — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out, is hardly a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You must navigate a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is 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 I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps in its place and reach the summit in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” 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 all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the truth that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Taking on The Obstacle could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that road is bound to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit suffering just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion anytime you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that transform an easy path into a obstacle suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by an ending prank? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated once 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 right or wrong answer. Either one leads to a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as anyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall completely down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Experience

During my game, I selected the steps. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call