Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments led me to pause the game for several minutes while I weighed my options. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've ever made in interactive media — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, is not really a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in the conventional way. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home 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 deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all comes from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to others. During his adventure, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and risky path dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” 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 culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is revolves around the truth that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Taking on The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that road is bound to be laden with more humiliating failures. Is it worth struggling just to make a statement?

The steps, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion anytime you see a simple solution. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a setback suddenly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be let down by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished another time by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one results in a authentic instance of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps as well. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

Personal Reflection

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