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

I've dealt with some challenging choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my options. I am the cause of numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. None of those moments hold a candle to what now might be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in gaming — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. At least not in the conventional way. You only need to navigate a expansive environment as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all stems from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to assist him. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps instead and get to the top in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “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 context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit suffering just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid each time you encounter an easy option. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a real situation of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as capable as anyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no real catch in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall completely down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Experience

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