Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Faced in Gaming

I've encountered some difficult choices in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've faced in interactive media — and it concerns a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You only need to navigate a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all arises from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to help him out. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he realizes that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the truth that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit struggling just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that transform an easy path into a setback suddenly. Could the steps yet another trap? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one leads to a real situation of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, naturally, opted for The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Choice

During my game, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call