Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in a Game

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances measure up to what now might be the toughest selection I've faced in gaming — and it concerns a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, is hardly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You must walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all arises from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker attempts to offer Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of choice. As Nate nears the end his journey, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase instead and reach the summit in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified striving just to make a statement?

The steps, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in if they decline guidance, but they can choose to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion whenever you see a simple solution. The game world contains intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs one more trick? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one brings about a genuine moment of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase too. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide all the way down if he trips. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Experience

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call