Baby Steps Features Among the Most Significant Choices I've Ever Faced in Gaming

I've dealt with some hard choices in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in the conventional way. You must navigate a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It looks like 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 demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he finds that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and reach the summit in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth suffering just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in about they turn away a map, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt whenever you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get at the peak just to be fooled by an ending prank? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as competent as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no real catch in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting 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 unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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