Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Encountered in a Game

I've encountered some challenging choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me put my controller down for several minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a challenge, as years spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems 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. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and get to the top in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Taking on The Challenge could be a instance where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be paved with more humiliating failures. Is it worth suffering just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be fooled by a final joke? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished once again by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he discovers 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 trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

Personal Reflection

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call