The Game Baby Steps Features Among the Most Significant Decisions I've Ever Faced in a Game

I've dealt with some difficult decisions in video games. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section led me to set down my controller for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am accountable for countless Krogan fatalities in the Mass Effect series that I wish I could undo. Not a single one of those situations hold a candle to what now might be the most difficult decision I’ve had to make in gaming — and it involves a giant staircase.

Baby Steps, the newest release from the makers of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a choice-driven game. Definitely not in the conventional way. You simply have to explore a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his unsteady feet. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps game’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that demonstrates that power like one major choice that remains on my mind.

Spoiler Warning

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 moving around in it is a difficulty, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have deteriorated his physical condition. The slapstick elements of it all arises from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to prevent him from falling over.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to other characters. As he progresses, he comes in contact with a collection of quirky personalities in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker attempts to offer Nate a guide, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he falls into an inescapable pit and is offered a ladder, he strives to appear nonchalant like he doesn’t need the help and genuinely desires to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you see numerous annoying scenarios where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to accept any assistance.

The Defining Decision

Everything builds up in Baby Steps’s key situation of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a frosty elevation. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) shows up to inform him that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can choose a very lengthy and hazardous route called The Obstacle. It is the most daunting obstacle Baby Steps game has to offer; attempting it appears unwise to any person.

But there’s a second option: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps instead and reach the summit in just moments. The sole condition? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an painful decision in context. It’s every one of Nate's doubts about himself coming to a head in a particularly bizarre situation. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the fact that he’s insecure of his body and his masculinity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a difficult memory of what he fails to be. Taking on The Obstacle could be a moment where he can show that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that road is bound to be paved with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth suffering just to make a statement?

The stairs, on the contrary, offer Nate an additional crucial instance to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The gamer cannot choose in if they turn away a map, but they can decide to give Nate a break and choose the staircase. It ought to be an simple decision, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt whenever you encounter an easy option. The environment includes planned obstacles that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Are the stairs an additional deception? Might Nate arrive all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he ready to be diminished another time by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Perfect Choice

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Either one brings about a genuine moment of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you decide to take on The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as others, consciously choosing a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no option except to pursue. It’s challenging, and perhaps unwise, but it’s the dose of confidence that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase either. To opt for that way is to finally allow Nate to receive assistance. And when he does, he discovers that there’s no real catch waiting for him. The staircase is not a trick. They go on for a long time, but they’re simple to climb and he doesn’t slide completely down if he trips. It’s a easy journey after hours of struggle. Partway through, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He tries to play it cool, but you can tell that he’s fatigued, subtly ruing the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to fulfill his obligation, hailing his new Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so bad. Who has time to be embarrassed by this strange individual?

Personal Reflection

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