Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've encountered some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence made me set down my controller for around ten minutes while I considered my options. I am the cause of countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in a video game — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out game, is hardly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to navigate a sprawling open world as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that moving around in it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his journey, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to let him know 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 Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a massive winding stairs as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the reality that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Attempting The Obstacle could be a instance where he can show that he’s as capable as his unilateral competitor, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth suffering just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid whenever you see a simple solution. The game world contains design traps that change a secure way into a difficulty on a dime. Could the steps yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Both options results in a authentic instance of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s difficult, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs too. To opt for that way is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They go on for a long time, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, chosen to take The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s worn out, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Choice

When I played, I opted for the stairs. Part of me just {wanted to call