Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me pause the game for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for numerous Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what possibly is the hardest choice I've faced in interactive media — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You only need to navigate a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all stems from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to assist him. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and reach the summit in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of all he lacks. Attempting The Challenge could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a difficulty instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be fooled by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options leads to a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase too. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Choice

When I played, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call