The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments prompted me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for numerous Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances measure up to what could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing 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 self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase instead and get to the top in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can show that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified suffering just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he trips. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, naturally, selected The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call