Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've faced some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my options. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've faced in a video game — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a expansive environment as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all arises from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A cool, confident hiker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate nears the end his journey, he realizes that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and get to the top in a short time. The sole condition? 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 painful decision in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth striving just to make a statement?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a obstacle suddenly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be let down by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one brings about a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as everyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs either. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does, he finds that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, naturally, selected The Obstacle. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I chose the staircase. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call