Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some difficult choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments led me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I thought through my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all comes from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he finds 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) comes to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail named The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a moment where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in about they decline guidance, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains design traps that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options brings about a authentic instance of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does, he finds that there’s no real catch waiting 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 to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, selected The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

When I played, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call