Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've dealt with some difficult choices in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail named The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Attempting The Challenge could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a difficulty on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be fooled by an ending prank? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as everyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase as well. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

Personal Reflection

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