The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Meaningful Choices I've Ever Faced in Video Games

I've faced some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am the cause of countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations compare to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in a video game — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that walking through it is a struggle, as years spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy 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 problems articulating that to anyone. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s one true moment of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to tell 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 dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and arrive at the peak in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. An element of Nate's story is centered around the reality that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Attempting The Obstacle could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified suffering just to prove a point?

The stairs, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can opt to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about creating doubt anytime you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a setback suddenly. Are the stairs an additional deception? Will Nate get at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path brings about a genuine moment of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as capable as anyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the staircase too. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a chat with the trekker who has, of course, selected The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

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