Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in a Game

I've dealt with some challenging decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section made me set down my controller for several minutes while I thought through my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations compare to what could be the toughest selection I've faced in interactive media — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that walking through it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all arises from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is given a way out, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Attempting The Obstacle could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that route is sure to be paved with more awkward mishaps. Does it merit suffering just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid each time you find a gift horse. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a difficulty on a dime. Is the staircase one more trick? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one brings about a genuine moment of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as competent as everyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase either. To select that route is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he stumbles. 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 tell that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

During my game, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call