Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some difficult choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me set down my controller for several minutes while I weighed my options. I am accountable for numerous Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what now might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a choice-driven game. At least not in the conventional way. You must explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a challenge, as years spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he realizes that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps provides; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the truth that he’s self-conscious of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Challenge could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in if they decline guidance, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty on a dime. Is the staircase an additional deception? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished once again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as others, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. 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 doesn’t slide completely down if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. 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 strange individual?

My Experience

During my game, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call