Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult choices in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my options. I am accountable for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances measure up to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've faced in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is hardly a selection-based adventure. Certainly 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 struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a challenge, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all comes from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to others. As he progresses, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game provides; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and get to the top in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

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. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Challenge could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The steps, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they reject navigation help, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a difficulty suddenly. Is the staircase one more trick? Will Nate get at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one brings about a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

During my game, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call