The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant 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 series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments led me to set down my controller for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am the cause of numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances compare to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: 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 address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt whenever you encounter an easy option. The environment includes planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get at the peak just to be let down by an ending prank? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a authentic instance of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as capable as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, naturally, opted for The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

When I played, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call