The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Significant Choices I've Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've faced some challenging decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section prompted me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what now might be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out game, is hardly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You only need to explore a vast game world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all comes from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties 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 choice. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and arrive at the peak in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest 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 fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a time where he can prove that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit striving just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in if they reject navigation help, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The environment includes planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle on a dime. Could the steps an additional deception? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path results in a real situation of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way 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 needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps either. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, naturally, opted for The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call