The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've faced some difficult decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence prompted me to pause the game for several minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am accountable for numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. None of those moments hold a candle to what possibly is the toughest selection I’ve had to make in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is hardly a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his quest, he finds that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and reach the summit in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Attempting The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified suffering just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the other hand, 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 opt to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid whenever you encounter an easy option. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated 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. Either one results in a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution 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 competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, of course, opted for The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

Personal Reflection

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call