Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Faced in Gaming

I've dealt with some challenging choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section prompted me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. None of those moments measure up to what could be the hardest choice I've faced in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in the conventional way. You simply have to navigate a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to help him out. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he finds that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route called The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains design traps that transform an easy path into a obstacle suddenly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path leads to a genuine moment of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting 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 bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

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