The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Faced in Video Games

I've faced some challenging choices in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to pause the game for several minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what possibly is the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it concerns a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a difficulty, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to make a statement?

The steps, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that transform an easy path into a obstacle suddenly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one leads to a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, consciously choosing 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 moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip completely down if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I opted for the stairs. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call