Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in a Game

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to pause the game for several minutes while I weighed my options. I am the cause of so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You only need to navigate a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that walking through it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and reach the summit in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Taking on The Challenge could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid each time you find a gift horse. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs too. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call