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

I've encountered some hard choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section led me to pause the game for several minutes while I thought through my choices. I am responsible for countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what now might be the toughest selection I've ever made in interactive media — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a sprawling open world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his family's basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have weakened his muscles. The physical comedy of it all arises from users guiding Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who everyone tries to help him out. A self-assured trekker tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of choice. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; choosing it looks risky to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps in its place and reach the summit in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself culminating in a single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is focused on the truth that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Challenge could be a time where he can demonstrate that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the flip side, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in about they reject navigation help, but they can decide to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a setback instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Could Nate reach all the way to the top just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished yet again by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Each path leads to a authentic instance of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate finally gets a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as everyone else, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no disgrace in the stairs as well. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to receive assistance. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the outdoorsman who has, of course, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can see that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this freak?

My Experience

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