The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Significant Decisions I Have Ever Faced in a Game

I've dealt with some challenging choices in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I weighed my options. I am the cause of numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up to what could be the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You must explore a expansive environment as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a struggle, as years 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 prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. As he progresses, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Obstacle could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit struggling just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The environment includes design traps that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Could the steps an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options leads to a authentic instance of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting 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 bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs too. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Experience

When I played, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call