Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Faced in a Game

I've faced some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what now might be the hardest choice I've faced in interactive media — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a vast game world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all stems from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to assist him. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, 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 tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps in its place and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Challenge could be a moment where he can show that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they decline guidance, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid whenever you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as competent as everyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

Personal Reflection

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call