The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Impactful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've encountered some hard decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my options. I am responsible for numerous Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations compare to what now might be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it involves a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out game, is not really a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can barely stand on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like one major choice that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a magical realm. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has problems articulating that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of selection. As Nate nears the end his adventure, he realizes that he must reach the summit of a snowy mountain. 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 routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and risky path named The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game provides; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Difficult Selection

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an agonizing choice in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself culminating in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure 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 hard reminder of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that route is sure to be laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified striving just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in about they reject navigation help, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that change a secure way into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps one more trick? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be fooled by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished another time by being forced to call some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a real situation of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs too. 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 waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, of course, selected The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Experience

During my game, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call