Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've encountered some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section led me to set down my controller for several minutes while I thought through my options. I am responsible for numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what could be the toughest selection I've faced in interactive media — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. At least 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 hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all stems from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky 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 a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be filled with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in about they reject navigation help, but they can decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a difficulty on a dime. Is the staircase yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs either. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, of course, selected The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call