The Game Baby Steps Features One of the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've dealt with some challenging choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence led me to pause the game for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my alternatives. I am accountable for so many Krogan deaths in the Mass Effect series that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what could be the hardest choice I’ve had to make in gaming — and it has to do with a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out, is hardly a selection-based adventure. At least not in any traditional sense. You simply have to walk around a sprawling open world as Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his wobbly legs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all comes from users guiding Nate gradually, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. During his adventure, he meets a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to assist him. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an trapping cavity and is presented with a ladder, he attempts to act casual like he requires no assistance and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. During the narrative, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of choice. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he finds that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route called The Manbreaker. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. An element of Nate's story is centered around the fact that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Undertaking The Challenge could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as competent as his unilateral competitor, but that road is bound to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it justified suffering just to prove a point?

The steps, on the other hand, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in about they turn away a map, but they can choose to give Nate a break and take the stairs. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion whenever you see a simple solution. The environment includes design traps that turn a safe route into a setback instantly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Will Nate get at the peak just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he willing to be emasculated another time by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path leads to a authentic instance of personal growth and catharsis for Nate. If you choose to tackle The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate finally gets a chance to prove that he’s as able as others, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the moment of strength that he craves.

But there’s no embarrassment in the stairs too. To choose that path is to finally allow Nate to take support. And when he accomplishes that, he finds that there’s no real catch awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They extend for some distance, but they’re simple to climb and he does not fall all the way down if he trips. It’s a simple climb after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a conversation with the trekker who has, of course, opted for The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to fulfill his obligation, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has concern for humiliation by this odd character?

My Choice

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