Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. None of those moments hold a candle to what possibly is the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You only need to explore a vast game world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all arises from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and truly prefers 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 Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he finds that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is revolves around the reality that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, 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 able as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified suffering 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 whether or not they decline guidance, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt each time you find a gift horse. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path brings about a real situation of personal growth and therapeutic resolution 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 competent as others, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps as well. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

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