Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

I've encountered some difficult decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me pause the game for around ten minutes while I considered my options. I am accountable for numerous Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations compare to what could be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. Certainly not in the conventional way. You only need to explore a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to others. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he finds that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail called The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and get to the top in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the truth that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a moment where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit suffering just to prove a point?

The steps, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you find a gift horse. The game world contains design traps that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Are the stairs an additional deception? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be let down by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one results in a authentic instance of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip all the way down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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