Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Significant Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section led me to set down my controller for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments compare to what now might be the hardest choice I've ever made in gaming — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You must walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters 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 funniest instant. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious 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 adventure, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail called The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps instead and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit suffering just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can choose to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Will Nate get at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a authentic instance of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than suffering through 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 stairs either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

During my game, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call