The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've encountered some hard decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in a video game — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a vast game world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds 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 comes from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to others. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the truth that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Taking on The Obstacle could be a instance where he can show that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified suffering just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they reject navigation help, but they can opt to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion anytime you see a simple solution. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps an additional deception? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be disappointed by a final joke? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he does, he finds that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

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