The Game Baby Steps Includes One of the Most Impactful Decisions I've Ever Encountered in Video Games

I've faced some challenging choices in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima's final sequence prompted me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my options. I am responsible for so many Krogan demises in the Mass Effect series that I would love to reverse. Not one of those instances measure up to what could be the toughest selection I've faced in interactive media — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. At least not in typical gaming terms. You must walk around a sprawling open world as the main character Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his shaky limbs. It looks like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from 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.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

Some background information is required here. Baby Steps game begins as Nate is magically whisked away from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He soon realizes that moving around in it is a struggle, as a long time spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all comes from gamers directing Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

Nate requires assistance, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. During his adventure, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who all offer to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s funniest instant. When he plunges into an trapping cavity and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you encounter plenty of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps’s one true moment of selection. As Nate nears the end his journey, he finds that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two ways up. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail called The Manbreaker. It is the most intimidating challenge Baby Steps includes; taking it seems inadvisable to any person.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs in its place and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself coming to a head in one absurd moment. Part of Nate’s journey is centered around the fact that he’s unconfident of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that dashing hiker, it’s a difficult memory of all he lacks. Attempting The Challenge could be a time where he can prove that he’s as competent as his one-sided rival, but that route is sure to be laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to prove a point?

The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The gamer cannot choose in whether or not they decline guidance, but they can decide to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It ought to be an easy choice, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion anytime you see a simple solution. The world is filled with planned obstacles that change a secure way into a difficulty on a dime. Could the steps yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by a final joke? And even worse, is he ready to be diminished another time by being forced to call an odd character as Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Both options brings about a genuine moment of personal growth and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a chance to prove that he’s as competent as everyone else, consciously choosing a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and possibly risky, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no shame in the steps either. To select that route is to eventually enable Nate to take support. 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 easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a simple climb after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a chat with the hiker who has, naturally, chosen to take The Manbreaker. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s exhausted, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the deal hardly seems so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this strange individual?

My Choice

In my playthrough, I selected the steps. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call