The Game Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Significant Choices I Have Ever Faced in Video Games

I've faced some challenging choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my options. I am accountable for so many Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what could be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in a video game — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a expansive environment as Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his shaky limbs. It appears to be an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s appeal is in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some scene setting is required here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that walking through it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all stems from gamers directing 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 comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his quest, he discovers that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s up for a challenge, he can take an extremely long and risky path called The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a gigantic spiral staircase in its place and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Painful Choice

I am absolutely sincere 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. Part of Nate’s journey 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 moment where he can show that he’s as capable as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be filled with more humiliating failures. Does it merit suffering just to make a statement?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can opt to allow Nate some relief and choose the staircase. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about creating doubt anytime you find a gift horse. The world is filled with planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a difficulty on a dime. Are the stairs an additional deception? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being compelled to refer to a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Either one leads to a real situation of character development and catharsis for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as anyone else, willingly taking on a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he needs.

But there’s no embarrassment in the staircase either. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. 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 hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, naturally, selected The Challenge. He strives to appear composed, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

My Experience

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