The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've encountered some hard decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for numerous Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what possibly is the toughest selection I've ever made in gaming — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. During his adventure, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he finds that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Obstacle could be a instance where he can show that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that road is bound to be paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth struggling just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in if they decline guidance, but they can decide to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion whenever you encounter an easy option. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a difficulty on a dime. Could the steps an additional deception? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options leads to a authentic instance of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip completely down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Choice

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