Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some difficult decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to pause the game for several minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. None of those moments hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I've faced in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to navigate a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as 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 struggle, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all stems from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. 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. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate nears the end his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs as an alternative and get to the top in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get at the peak just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a real situation of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs either. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, of course, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

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