The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've dealt with some difficult choices in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances measure up to what could be the toughest selection I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a vast game world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all comes from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to assist him. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he discovers that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and risky path dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere 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 coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in about they turn away a map, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be fooled by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path leads to a real situation of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as anyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

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