Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Significant Choices I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some hard decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am responsible for so many Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in a video game — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that demonstrates that power like one major choice 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 fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all comes from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant 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 complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps in its place and get to the top in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest 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. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the reality that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that turn a safe route into a difficulty instantly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a real situation of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as competent as anyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

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