The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Faced in a Game

I've faced some challenging choices in interactive entertainment. 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 a good 10 minutes while I considered my options. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what could be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in a video game — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You only need to walk around a expansive environment as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

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 soon realizes that moving around in it is a challenge, as years 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 others. During his adventure, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that change a secure way into a setback instantly. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by an ending prank? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one leads to a authentic instance of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the steps too. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. 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 extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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