Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I weighed my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. None of those moments hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I've faced in interactive media — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to assist him. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route called The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and reach the summit in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “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 painful decision in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the reality that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can show that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion whenever you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps yet another trap? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip all the way down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Choice

When I played, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call