Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've dealt with some hard choices in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances measure up to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a challenge, as years spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all stems from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate nears the end his journey, he realizes that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to let him know 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 Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in if they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion whenever you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Could the steps an additional deception? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a real situation of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as everyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps as well. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call