Baby Steps Features Among the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments led me to put my controller down for several minutes while I thought through my options. I am the cause of so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments hold a candle to what now might be the hardest choice I've ever made in interactive media — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a decision-focused experience. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all stems from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. During his adventure, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to help him out. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and get to the top in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Taking on The Challenge could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in about they decline guidance, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt anytime you find a gift horse. The environment includes planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty on a dime. Could the steps an additional deception? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished once again by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as capable as others, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase too. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I selected the steps. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call