The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Faced in Video Games

I've faced some difficult decisions in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments made me set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for so many Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in the conventional way. You must explore a vast game world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all arises from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to others. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to assist him. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his quest, he discovers 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 inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps provides; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. An element of Nate's story is focused on the reality that he’s unconfident of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Taking on The Obstacle could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely filled with more humiliating failures. Is it worth suffering just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in if they decline guidance, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about creating doubt whenever you find a gift horse. The environment includes planned obstacles that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Are the stairs one more trick? Will Nate get at the peak just to be disappointed by an ending prank? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a authentic instance of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as competent as others, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs too. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. 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, of course, opted for The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call