Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've encountered some challenging decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. None of those moments measure up to what now might be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to navigate a expansive environment as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he discovers 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 prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase instead and reach the summit in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Attempting The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit suffering just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The game world contains design traps that change a secure way into a difficulty suddenly. Are the stairs one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options results in a real situation of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as capable as everyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no real catch in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Experience

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