Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've faced some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for numerous Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all comes from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help 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 too self-conscious to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper 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 ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and risky path dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

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

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating 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 what he fails to be. Attempting The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth suffering just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt whenever you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty instantly. Is the staircase one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip all the way down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Choice

When I played, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call