Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've encountered some challenging choices in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments prompted me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am the cause of so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You only need to walk around a sprawling open world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to others. As he progresses, he meets a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game includes; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and get to the top in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious 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 handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Challenge could be a moment where he can show that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can decide to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be fooled by a final joke? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished another time by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, of course, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s worn out, subtly ruing 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 odd character?

My Experience

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