Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Impactful Choices I've Ever Faced in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a struggle, as years spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all comes from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. As he progresses, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he can manage alone and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of selection. As Nate nears the end his journey, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game provides; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase instead and arrive at the peak in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Taking on The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Does it merit suffering just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about causing suspicion anytime you see a simple solution. The environment includes design traps that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs yet another trap? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished once again by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path results in a authentic instance of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as able as everyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering through 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 needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the steps either. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip completely down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to meet his agreement, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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