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

I've encountered some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I considered my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to navigate a expansive environment as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context 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 struggle, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all comes from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to help him out. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and get to the top in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can show that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be laden with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice 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 straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a setback on a dime. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path brings about a real situation of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as anyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps as well. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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