The Game Baby Steps Presents One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Faced in a Game

I've encountered some challenging decisions in video games. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima ending section prompted me to put my controller down for several minutes while I considered my choices. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. None of those moments measure up to what now might be the most difficult decision I've ever made in a video game — and it concerns a enormous set of steps.

The Game Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out, is not really a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You only need to explore a vast game world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can struggle to remain on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will catch you off guard when it's most unexpected. There’s no moment that demonstrates that power like one major choice that I can’t stop thinking about.

Spoiler Warning

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a magical realm. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all stems from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate requires assistance, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be confined in the cavity. During the narrative, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’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 unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two routes to the top. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail named The Obstacle. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; taking it seems inadvisable to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can just walk up a massive winding stairs instead and reach the summit in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. 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 reality that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of everything he’s not. Taking on The Challenge could be a time where he can show that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth suffering just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the contrary, give Nate another big moment to choose whether to take assistance or not. The player has no choice in about they reject navigation help, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It should be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you find a gift horse. The game world contains planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a obstacle suddenly. Are the stairs yet another trap? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be fooled by a final joke? And more concerning, is he willing to be emasculated once again by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options leads to a genuine moment of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as able as anyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s difficult, and possibly risky, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he finds that there’s no secret drawback in store for him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he won't slip completely down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the needless difficulty. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has time to be embarrassed by this odd character?

My Choice

When I played, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call