The Game Baby Steps Features Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some difficult decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence led me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in gaming — and it has to do with a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a choice-driven game. At least not in the conventional way. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It appears to be one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps 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 years spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase instead and get to the top in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the truth that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified struggling just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in if they decline guidance, but they can choose to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Will Nate get at the peak just to be fooled by a final joke? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished another time by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options brings about a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as capable as everyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs too. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no secret drawback waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he doesn’t slide completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

Personal Reflection

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