Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I've Ever Experienced in a Game

I've encountered some hard choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I weighed my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what possibly is the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You must navigate a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a adult in a onesie who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a challenge, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all arises from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. As he progresses, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be confined in the cavity. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route named The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs as an alternative and get to the top in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Attempting The Manbreaker could be a time where he can prove that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely paved with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can decide to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion each time you see a simple solution. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a setback suddenly. Could the steps an additional deception? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one brings about a real situation of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as competent as others, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip completely down if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

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