Baby Steps Includes Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Gaming

I've encountered some challenging decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima concluding moments led me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am the cause of countless Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what possibly is the toughest selection I’ve had to make in gaming — and it concerns a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the latest game from the makers of Ape Out, is not really a choice-driven game. At least not in typical gaming terms. You must navigate a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a grown-up in childish attire who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It looks like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps game’s power lies in its unexpectedly meaningful plot that will surprise you when you least anticipate it. There’s not a single instance that demonstrates that power like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is necessary here. Baby Steps begins as Nate is transported from his family's basement and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate needs help, but he has trouble voicing that to others. As he progresses, he encounters a collection of quirky personalities in the world who each propose to help him out. A composed outdoorsman tries to give Nate a map, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be trapped in the pit. Throughout the story, you experience no shortage of irritating episodes where Nate creates additional difficulties because he’s too insecure to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate approaches the conclusion his adventure, he realizes that he must climb to the top of a snow-capped peak. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two ways up. If he’s ready for a test, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail named The Challenge. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps includes; choosing it looks risky to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and arrive at the peak in a short time. The only caveat? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the reality 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. Attempting The Challenge could be a instance where he can demonstrate that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely laden with more humiliating failures. Is it justified suffering just to demonstrate something?

The staircase, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in whether or not they turn away a map, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and take the stairs. It ought to be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid each time you encounter an easy option. The environment includes intentional pitfalls that transform an easy path into a difficulty instantly. Is the staircase an additional deception? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be fooled by some last-second gag? And even worse, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address a strange individual as Master?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no perfect selection. Both options leads to a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate at last receives a chance to prove 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 maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the stairs either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to accept help. And when he accomplishes that, he discovers that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They go on for a long time, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall all the way down if he stumbles. It’s a simple climb after extended challenges. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the hiker who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s exhausted, silently lamenting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

My Experience

In my playthrough, I selected the steps. Part of me just {wanted to call