The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've encountered some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for numerous Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in the conventional way. You simply have to explore a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all stems from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to help him out. A cool, confident hiker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and risky path dubbed The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and reach the summit in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the reality that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to make a statement?

The steps, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a obstacle suddenly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path results in a genuine moment of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as anyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide completely down if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. 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 meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call