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

I've encountered some challenging decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my choices. I am the cause of countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what now might be the hardest choice I've faced in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is hardly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a struggle, as a long time spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. As he progresses, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to assist him. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is offered 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 irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt whenever you encounter an easy option. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a obstacle suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a authentic instance of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. 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 simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, of course, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Choice

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