The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've encountered some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I considered my choices. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what now might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it concerns a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out, is hardly a selection-based adventure. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a sprawling open world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a difficulty, as years spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. During his adventure, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he realizes that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs in its place and get to the top in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” 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 the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the reality that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a instance where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth suffering just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt whenever you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Will Nate get at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path leads to a authentic instance of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs too. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he finds that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, opted for The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Choice

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