Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've encountered some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section led me to set down my controller for several minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up to what could be the most difficult decision I've faced in a video game — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a expansive environment as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to others. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he finds that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail called The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

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. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth striving just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can opt to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion each time you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with design traps that transform an easy path into a setback suddenly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path results in a real situation of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as everyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs as well. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, naturally, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

During my game, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call