The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments measure up 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 game, is not really a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You must explore a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that walking through it is a challenge, 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 maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to help him out. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and get to the top in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the fact that he’s self-conscious of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be filled with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified struggling just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in about they decline guidance, but they can opt to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion whenever you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Are the stairs one more trick? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished yet 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. Both options leads to a authentic instance of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as anyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?

My Experience

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