The Game Baby Steps Features Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for numerous Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You must walk around a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all stems from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries 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 falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs in its place and reach the summit in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the truth that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Attempting The Challenge could be a instance where he can show that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be filled with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they turn away a map, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about creating doubt each time you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a obstacle suddenly. Could the steps yet another trap? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be fooled by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as anyone else, consciously choosing a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no real catch 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 all the way down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Experience

In my playthrough, I selected the steps. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call