Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in a Game

I've faced some challenging choices in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section prompted me to set down my controller for several minutes while I weighed 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 could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, is not really a selection-based adventure. At least not in the conventional way. You must navigate a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a struggle, as years spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and risky path named The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the truth that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Attempting The Challenge could be a moment where he can show that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The steps, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion whenever you see a simple solution. The environment includes planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle suddenly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And more troubling, 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 correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps too. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, of course, selected The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

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