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

I've faced some difficult decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments prompted me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I've ever made in a video game — and it concerns a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You must walk around a expansive environment as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand 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 you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all stems from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. As he progresses, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to assist him. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s key situation of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

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 coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the fact that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to make a statement?

The steps, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in about they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The environment includes planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps one more trick? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be disappointed 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 Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase as well. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he trips. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, of course, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call