The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Significant Choices I've Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging decisions in interactive entertainment. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to put my controller down for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not one of those instances hold a candle to what could be the toughest selection I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it concerns a massive stairway.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, is not really a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its surprisingly deep narrative that will catch you off guard when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Spoiler Warning

Some background information is necessary here. Baby Steps game begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He soon realizes that navigating this world is a struggle, as years spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all comes from gamers directing Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has problems articulating that to other characters. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to help him out. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of selection. As Nate nears the end his quest, he finds that he must reach the summit of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can take an extremely long and dangerous hiking trail called The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an difficult selection in this situation. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Every time he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified struggling just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The gamer cannot choose in if they turn away a map, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It should be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion whenever you find a gift horse. The game world contains design traps that transform an easy path into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished once again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and emotional release for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a moment to show that he’s as competent as others, voluntarily accepting a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the steps too. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no real catch in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he won't slip to the bottom if he trips. It’s a easy journey after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, of course, opted for The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the needless difficulty. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I chose the staircase. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call