The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my options. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what possibly is the toughest selection I've ever made in a video game — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in the conventional way. You must navigate a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that walking through it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to others. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to help him out. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he realizes that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs in its place and reach the summit in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Taking on The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The environment includes design traps that transform an easy path into a obstacle suddenly. Could the steps yet another trap? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished once again by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as everyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

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