The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've encountered some hard choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to pause the game for several minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am responsible for numerous Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances measure up to what could be the hardest choice I've faced in a video game — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. As he progresses, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to assist him. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he finds that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Taking on The Obstacle could be a moment where he can show that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid whenever you find a gift horse. The environment includes planned obstacles that change a secure way into a difficulty suddenly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as others, voluntarily accepting a challenging way 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 requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

Personal Reflection

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