Baby Steps Features Among the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Faced in a Game

I've faced some challenging choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section led me to set down my controller for several minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out, is hardly a selection-based adventure. At least not in the conventional way. You must walk around a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all arises from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded 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 daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs as an alternative and get to the top in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The steps, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they decline guidance, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains design traps that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs an additional deception? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as competent as anyone else, consciously choosing a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Experience

When I played, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call