Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Significant Choices I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've encountered some difficult choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me pause the game for around ten minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in a video game — and it concerns a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in the conventional way. You simply have to navigate a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all stems from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps provides; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs instead and reach the summit in a few minutes. The sole condition? 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 agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Challenge could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified suffering just to prove a point?

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 turn away a map, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps an additional deception? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as competent as others, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, naturally, opted for The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

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