Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Significant Decisions I Have Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've dealt with some hard decisions in gaming. Several of my selections in Life is Strange series continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section led me to put my controller down for several minutes while I weighed my choices. I am the cause of countless Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what possibly is the most difficult decision I've ever made in gaming — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the developers of Ape Out, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. At least not in any traditional sense. You only need to walk around a expansive environment as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when it's most unexpected. There’s not a single instance that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when Nate is transported from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that moving around in it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The slapstick elements of it all comes from users guiding Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to other characters. During his adventure, he comes in contact with a cast of eccentric characters in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A self-assured trekker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and truly prefers to be stuck in the hole. Throughout the story, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Ultimate Choice

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he realizes that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail dubbed The Obstacle. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a gigantic spiral staircase as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a short time. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” 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 the totality of Nate's self-consciousness about himself culminating in a particularly bizarre situation. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the reality that he’s unconfident of his physique and male identity. Whenever he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of everything he’s not. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a time where he can show that he’s as able as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be filled with more humiliating failures. Does it merit striving just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to either accept or reject help. The user doesn't get to decide in about they turn away a map, but they can decide to provide Nate with respite and choose the staircase. It might seem like an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps game is remarkably shrewd about making you feel paranoid anytime you see a simple solution. The game world contains planned obstacles that transform an easy path into a setback suddenly. Could the steps yet another trap? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated another time by being made to address an odd character as Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one results in a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a chance to prove that he’s as capable as others, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than enduring one that he has no alternative but to take. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The stairs aren’t a prank. They extend for some distance, 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. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so nasty. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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