The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've encountered some challenging choices in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to pause the game for several minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what possibly is the toughest selection I’ve had to make in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to navigate a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he discovers that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route named The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps instead and get to the top in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Taking on The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in if they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about creating doubt anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a setback instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as competent as others, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, naturally, opted for The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Choice

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