Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've faced some hard decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me pause the game for around ten minutes while I weighed my options. I am responsible for countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've faced in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. At least not in the conventional way. You must navigate a expansive environment as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two routes to the top. 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 provides; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and reach the summit in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Challenge could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in about they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt each time you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he finds that there’s no real catch in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Experience

During my game, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call