Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Faced in Video Games

I've faced some challenging decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments led me to pause the game for several minutes while I considered my choices. I am the cause of countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances measure up to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've ever made in a video game — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, 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 adult in a onesie 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 you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all arises from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. During his adventure, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he realizes that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs instead and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the reality that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Taking on The Challenge could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit struggling just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in about they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion whenever you find a gift horse. The environment includes planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a setback instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a authentic instance of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. 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 alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he trips. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Choice

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