The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Faced in Video Games

I've encountered some challenging choices in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for numerous Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all comes from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to help him out. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up 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 dubbed The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Challenge could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in about they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid each time you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Could the steps an additional deception? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one leads to a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as able as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, 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 trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, selected The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Experience

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call