Baby Steps Features Among the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Faced in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am the cause of countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in a video game — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. At least not in any traditional sense. You must navigate a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all arises from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to take support.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route named The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps in its place and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Challenge could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in about they turn away a map, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a difficulty on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished another time by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the stairs too. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, naturally, selected The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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