The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've dealt with some difficult choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I weighed my options. I am accountable for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments compare to what could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he realizes that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route named The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs in its place and reach the summit in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is focused on the truth that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Taking on The Obstacle could be a instance where he can show that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can decide to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt each time you encounter an easy option. The game world contains design traps that transform an easy path into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as able as others, voluntarily accepting a tough path 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 embarrassment in the steps as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, opted for The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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