The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Significant Decisions I Have Ever Faced in Gaming

I've encountered some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to put my controller down for several minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've faced in a video game — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to assist him. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation 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 gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and reach the summit in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

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 culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth struggling just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion anytime you see a simple solution. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a setback on a dime. Could the steps yet another trap? Will Nate get at the peak just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as anyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs either. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip completely down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, of course, selected The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Experience

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