Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've encountered some difficult choices in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section made me set down my controller for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am the cause of so many Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the hardest choice I've faced in a video game — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You only need to navigate a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that walking through it is a struggle, as years spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all arises from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Whenever 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 capable as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in if they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a setback instantly. Is the staircase one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options results in a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as others, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the stairs as well. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

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