Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Faced in a Game

I've dealt with some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments led me to put my controller down for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances measure up to what possibly is the toughest selection I’ve had to make in gaming — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You must walk around a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker 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 choose a very lengthy and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the reality that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it worth suffering just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid each time you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Is the staircase yet another trap? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a real situation of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as everyone else, consciously choosing a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs as well. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

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