The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've faced some challenging choices in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what could be the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You must navigate a sprawling open world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all stems from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. During his adventure, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided 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 risky path dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is revolves around the reality that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Taking on The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished another time 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. Both options results in a real situation of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call