Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Encountered in a Game

I've dealt with some challenging choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me set down my controller for several minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up to what now might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You must explore a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that walking through it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky 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 few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is revolves around the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified suffering just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be let down by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a real situation of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as others, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the stairs as well. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he finds 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 completely down if he trips. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. 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?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call