The Game Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've dealt with some challenging choices in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence made me put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. None of those moments measure up to what possibly is the toughest selection I've faced in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You must navigate a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie 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 catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all stems from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. During his adventure, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, 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 tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the fact that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The environment includes planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs an additional deception? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one leads to a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he finds that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Experience

During my game, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call