Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Faced in Gaming

I've faced some challenging decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence made me pause the game for several minutes while I thought through my options. I am the cause of countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the toughest selection I've faced in interactive media — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You must navigate a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It appears to be 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 no moment that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all comes from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to others. During his adventure, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A cool, confident hiker attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

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

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere 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 culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Taking on The Obstacle could be a time where he can prove that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that road is bound to be paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can choose to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a authentic instance of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as able as others, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase as well. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call