Baby Steps Features Among the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Faced in a Game

I've encountered some difficult choices in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence prompted me to pause the game for several minutes while I weighed my options. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the hardest choice I've faced in gaming — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in the conventional way. You only need to explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all comes from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to assist him. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of choice. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs instead and arrive at the peak in just moments. 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 completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified suffering just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in if they decline guidance, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt anytime you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a setback suddenly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by an ending prank? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a authentic instance of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall all the way down if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Experience

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