The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've dealt with some difficult choices in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to set down my controller for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am the cause of numerous Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. At least not in the conventional way. You must explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. As he progresses, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to help him out. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he finds that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can show that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in if they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains design traps that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as able as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps either. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, naturally, opted for The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Choice

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