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

I've encountered some difficult decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me pause the game for around ten minutes while I thought through my options. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You must explore a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all arises from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants 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 not confident enough to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he finds that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Attempting The Challenge could be a instance where he can show that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth striving just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a difficulty instantly. Could the steps an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by a final joke? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a real situation of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as capable as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs as well. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, of course, opted for The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

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