Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Faced in Video Games

I've dealt with some challenging choices in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect 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 concerns a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the creators of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Certainly not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a vast game world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a struggle, as a long time spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from players controlling Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to others. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a navigation aid, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he drops into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s key situation of choice. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and reach the summit in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is revolves around the truth that he’s unconfident 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 Challenge could be a instance where he can show that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that road is bound to be laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in about they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that change a secure way into a setback instantly. Could the steps an additional deception? Might Nate arrive to the very summit just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished once again by being forced to call a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one results in a authentic instance of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an existential win. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, willingly taking on a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To opt for that way is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he discovers that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Halfway up, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, naturally, selected The Obstacle. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, silently lamenting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this freak?

My Experience

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