The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section prompted me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I weighed my options. I am accountable for countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what could be the hardest choice I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. At least not in the conventional way. You only need to walk around a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual 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 Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate nears the end his journey, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps in its place and get to the top in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the fact that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Taking on The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a difficulty on a dime. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path leads to a real situation of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Choice

During my game, I chose the staircase. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call