The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've encountered some challenging choices in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in gaming — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You must explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that walking through it is a struggle, as years spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all stems from gamers directing Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. During his adventure, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps in its place and get to the top in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt whenever you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle suddenly. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by a final joke? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path brings about a real situation of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, consciously choosing a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To choose that path is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Choice

When I played, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call