The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've faced some difficult decisions in interactive entertainment. Several of my selections in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I considered my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what could be the hardest choice I've faced in gaming — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Certainly not in the conventional way. You must walk around a sprawling open world as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be confined in the cavity. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he finds that he must reach the summit of a snow-capped peak. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided 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 dangerous hiking trail called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and reach the summit in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an difficult selection in the game's narrative. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the truth that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a instance where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth striving just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in about they decline guidance, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt anytime you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be disappointed by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one brings about a real situation of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall to the bottom if he falls. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

When I played, I opted for the stairs. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call