Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Experienced in Gaming

I've dealt with some challenging choices in interactive entertainment. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima ending section prompted me to put my controller down for around ten minutes while I considered my alternatives. I am responsible for countless Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations compare to what possibly is the toughest selection I've faced in interactive media — and it involves a giant staircase.

The Game Baby Steps, the newest release from the developers of Ape Out game, is not really a selection-based adventure. Definitely not in typical gaming terms. You only need to walk around a vast game world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can struggle to remain on his wobbly legs. It seems like a setup for annoyance, but Baby Steps’s strength comes from its surprisingly deep narrative that will sneak up on you when you least anticipate it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I keep reflecting on.

Note: Spoilers Ahead

A bit of context is needed at this point. Baby Steps game starts when the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a challenge, as a lifetime spent as a inactive individual have atrophied his limbs. The physical comedy of it all comes from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.

Nate needs help, but he has difficulty expressing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters in the world who everyone tries to give him a hand. A cool, confident hiker tries to give Nate a map, but he awkwardly refuses in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he plunges into an unavoidable hole and is offered a ladder, he tries to play it off like he doesn’t need the help and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you encounter plenty of annoying scenarios where Nate complicates his own situation because he’s not confident enough to receive help.

The Pivotal Moment

Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of selection. As Nate nears the end his quest, he finds that he must ascend of a snow-capped peak. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has consistently evaded up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two routes to the top. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can take an extremely long and risky path dubbed The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps includes; attempting it appears unwise to any human.

But there’s a alternative choice: He can merely climb a enormous coiled steps as an alternative and reach the summit in just moments. The only caveat? He’ll have to address the guardian “Master” from now on if he takes the easy route.

A Difficult Selection

I am absolutely sincere when I say that this is an agonizing choice in the game's narrative. It’s all of Nate’s insecurities about himself reaching a climax in one absurd moment. A portion of Nate's adventure is revolves around the reality that he’s insecure of his physique and male identity. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a painful recollection of all he lacks. Undertaking The Manbreaker could be a instance where he can prove that he’s as able as his imagined opponent, but that path is likely filled with more humiliating failures. Does it merit struggling just to prove a point?

The staircase, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The player has no choice in if they turn away a map, but they can opt to provide Nate with respite and opt for the steps. It should be an straightforward selection, but Baby Steps is remarkably shrewd about causing suspicion whenever you find a gift horse. The world is filled with design traps that turn a safe route into a obstacle on a dime. Is the staircase an additional deception? Will Nate get all the way to the top just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated yet again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Correct Answer

The excellence of that situation is that there’s no correct or incorrect choice. Each path brings about a real situation of character development and therapeutic resolution for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Manbreaker, it’s an existential win. Nate at last receives a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as competent as everyone else, voluntarily accepting a tough path rather than suffering through one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s hard, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the bit of empowerment that he requires.

But there’s no disgrace in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick waiting for him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he won't slip completely down if he falls. It’s a straightforward ascent after lengthy difficulty. Halfway up, he even has a chat with the outdoorsman who has, unsurprisingly, selected The Obstacle. He attempts to act casual, but you can tell that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the pointless struggle. By the time Nate reaches the summit and has to meet his agreement, calling the character Lord, the deal hardly seems so bad. Who has concern for humiliation by this freak?

My Experience

In my playthrough, I opted for the stairs. A portion of my thinking just {wanted to call