Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

I've faced some difficult decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me pause the game for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances measure up to what now might be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in a video game — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as years spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all comes from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to others. During his adventure, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a moment where he can show that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified suffering just to demonstrate something?

The steps, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in about they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt anytime you encounter an easy option. The game world contains planned obstacles that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Is the staircase an additional deception? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished another time by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options results in a genuine moment of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as competent as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing 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 unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call