Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've faced some hard decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section made me set down my controller for around ten minutes while I thought through my options. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what possibly is the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You must explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. As he progresses, he encounters 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 best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and reach the summit in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Attempting The Challenge could be a moment where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in about they reject navigation help, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains design traps that turn a safe route into a setback instantly. Is the staircase one more trick? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a real situation of personal growth and catharsis 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 able as others, willingly taking on a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call