The Game Baby Steps Presents Among the Most Meaningful Decisions I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section prompted me to pause the game for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not a single one of those situations compare to what possibly is the toughest selection I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in the conventional way. You must navigate a sprawling open world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. 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 you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that walking through it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The slapstick elements of it all arises from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. As he progresses, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he doesn’t need the help and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

This culminates in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and hazardous route named The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase instead and reach the summit in a few minutes. 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 all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is focused on the reality that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Every time 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 demonstrate that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that road is bound to be paved with more awkward mishaps. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that turn a safe route into a setback suddenly. Could the steps yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a moment to show that he’s as competent as others, voluntarily accepting a challenging way rather than enduring one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the staircase as well. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does, he finds that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip completely down if he stumbles. It’s a straightforward ascent after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, naturally, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I selected the steps. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call