The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

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's final sequence prompted me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am the cause of so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances measure up to what possibly is the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You only need to explore a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s power lies 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

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all stems from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps instead and reach the summit in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the truth that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified struggling just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt each time you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a obstacle suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be let down by a final joke? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options brings about a real situation of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting 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 bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he finds that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip to the bottom if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Experience

When I played, I opted for the stairs. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call