Baby Steps Features Among the Most Significant Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've dealt with some hard decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section led me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've ever made in a video game — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s power lies in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all arises from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the truth that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Obstacle 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 embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth striving just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they turn away a map, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a setback on a dime. Are the stairs an additional deception? Could Nate reach to the very summit just to be disappointed by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished once again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one results in a real situation of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as others, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

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 discovers that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, of course, chosen to take The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Experience

In my playthrough, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call