Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Faced in Gaming

I've faced some difficult choices in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I weighed my options. I am the cause of countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances compare to what now might be the most difficult decision I've faced in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, is hardly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It appears to be a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all comes from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of choice. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Attempting The Challenge could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit suffering just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the other hand, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in about they turn away a map, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid each time you see a simple solution. The environment includes planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle suddenly. Is the staircase one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a authentic instance of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he realizes that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, selected The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Experience

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