Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Faced in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence prompted me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am accountable for numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. None of those moments measure up to what could be the hardest choice I've faced in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A cool, confident hiker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he finds that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and risky path named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth suffering just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in if they decline guidance, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite 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 world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be let down by a final joke? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished another time by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path leads to a genuine moment of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does, he finds that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call