The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Faced in a Game

I've encountered some challenging decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments measure up to what could be the most difficult decision I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, is hardly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You must walk around a expansive environment as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all stems from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path called The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is focused on the reality that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit suffering just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in about they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid whenever you find a gift horse. The game world contains design traps that turn a safe route into a setback instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be fooled by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path leads to a real situation of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as others, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call