Baby Steps Features Among the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've encountered some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances measure up to what now might be the most difficult decision I've faced in a video game — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a vast game world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to assist him. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate nears the end his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper 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 take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs as an alternative and get to the top in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in if they turn away a map, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt each time you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as capable as anyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs too. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip all the way down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call