The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments led me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations compare to what now might be the hardest choice I've faced in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is needed at this point. 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 walking through it is a challenge, as years spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all comes from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. During his adventure, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s key situation of choice. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper 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 prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route 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 second option: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is revolves around the truth that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options results in a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as everyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Choice

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