Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've dealt with some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for numerous Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what possibly is the hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. At least not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s key situation of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he discovers that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail named The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the truth that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Taking on The Challenge could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified struggling just to prove a point?

The steps, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that change a secure way into a difficulty on a dime. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one results in a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no real catch in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

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