The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've faced some hard decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to set down my controller for several minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what now might be the hardest choice I've faced in interactive media — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You only need to walk around a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a challenge, as years spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he finds that he must reach the summit of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path named The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the reality that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Attempting The Obstacle could be a moment where he can show that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in about they turn away a map, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid whenever you encounter an easy option. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be let down by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I chose the staircase. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call