Baby Steps Features One of the Most Impactful Decisions I Have Ever Faced in a Game

I've faced some difficult choices in gaming. Certain choices I made in Life is Strange continue to trouble me. Ghost of Tsushima's concluding moments made me set down my controller for several minutes while I considered my choices. I am the cause of so many Krogan demises in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what possibly is the hardest choice I’ve had to make in interactive media — and it has to do with a enormous set of steps.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You must explore a expansive environment as the protagonist Nate, a onesie-wearing manchild who can hardly stay upright on his unsteady feet. It seems like an exercise in frustration, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will catch you off guard when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that showcases that quality like a pivotal decision that I keep reflecting on.

Alert: Spoilers

Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fictional universe. He quickly discovers that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a couch potato have deteriorated his physical condition. The physical comedy of it all comes from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. As he progresses, he meets a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to assist him. A self-assured trekker seeks to provide Nate a guide, but he uncomfortably rejects in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he requires no assistance and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Ultimate Choice

This culminates in Baby Steps’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he realizes that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The de facto groundskeeper of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and hazardous route named The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a massive winding stairs as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to refer to the caretaker “Sir” from now on if he chooses the simple path.

A Painful Choice

I am completely earnest 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 single ridiculous instant. A portion of Nate's adventure is centered around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Whenever he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Obstacle could be a time where he can show that he’s as capable as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely laden with more awkward mishaps. Is it justified striving just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the flip side, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to choose whether to take assistance or not. The user doesn't get to decide in whether or not they reject navigation help, but they can choose to allow Nate some relief and opt for the steps. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is exceptionally cunning about making you feel paranoid anytime you encounter an easy option. The environment includes design traps that transform an easy path into a obstacle instantly. Could the steps yet another trap? Might Nate arrive at the peak just to be let down by a final joke? And more concerning, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The brilliance of that instant is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one results in a authentic instance of character development and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Obstacle, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as everyone else, willingly taking on a challenging way rather than struggling through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he needs.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no secret drawback awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re straightforward to ascend and he does not fall completely down if he trips. It’s a straightforward ascent after hours of struggle. Midway through, he even has a discussion with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, opted for The Manbreaker. He tries to play it cool, but you can discern that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to pay his debt, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

Personal Reflection

During my game, I chose the staircase. Some part of my reasoning just {wanted to call