The Game Baby Steps Features Among the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Faced in Gaming

I've dealt with some hard choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am the cause of so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the most difficult decision I've ever made in interactive media — and it concerns a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a vast game world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help 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 not confident enough to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s key situation of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he finds that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps in its place and get to the top in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Taking on The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit struggling just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that turn a safe route into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path leads to a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps too. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, of course, selected The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

Personal Reflection

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