The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Significant Choices I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've faced some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am the cause of numerous Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up to what possibly is the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it concerns a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to explore a vast game world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a challenge, as a long time spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he meets a cast of eccentric characters 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 falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and reach the summit in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the truth that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Attempting The Obstacle could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be filled with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about creating doubt whenever you encounter an easy option. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a setback on a dime. Could the steps yet another trap? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a authentic instance of protagonist evolution and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as others, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call