The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've encountered some hard decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for numerous Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what possibly is the toughest selection I've faced in gaming — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a long time spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A cool, confident hiker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an inescapable pit 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 encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes 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 single genuine instance of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route named The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase instead and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the truth that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be filled with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth struggling just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt each time you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that turn a safe route into a difficulty suddenly. Could the steps one more trick? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one brings about a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as capable as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip completely down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing 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 bad. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call