The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've faced some difficult choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I considered my choices. I am accountable for numerous Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in the conventional way. You only need to walk around a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his quest, he realizes that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path dubbed The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and get to the top in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Does it merit suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in about they turn away a map, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a difficulty on a dime. Is the staircase an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options results in a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as competent as others, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the staircase either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

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