Baby Steps Features One of the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Video Games

I've faced some challenging choices in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence prompted me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in any traditional sense. You only need to walk around a expansive environment as Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that showcases that quality like a key selection that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps starts when Nate is magically whisked away from the basement of his home and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that walking through it is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have weakened his muscles. The humorous physicality of it all stems from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who each propose to give him a hand. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s best laugh-out-loud moment. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too insecure to take support.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s key situation of decision. As Nate approaches the conclusion his quest, he finds that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to tell him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Challenge. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game includes; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and get to the top in a short time. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

A Difficult Selection

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a single ridiculous instant. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the fact that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a moment where he can prove that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth suffering just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the other hand, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can decide to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt each time you see a simple solution. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a setback suddenly. Could the steps yet another trap? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be let down by a final joke? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated yet again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one brings about a real situation of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s difficult, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the stairs too. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip to the bottom if he falls. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Manbreaker. He strives to appear composed, but you can see that he’s worn out, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Choice

During my game, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call