Baby Steps Features Among the Most Meaningful Choices I Have Ever Faced in Video Games

I've dealt with some hard decisions in gaming. Some of my decisions in Life is Strange series still haunt me. Ghost of Tsushima's ending section led me to set down my controller for a good 10 minutes while I weighed my options. I am accountable for numerous Krogan deaths in Mass Effect that I wish I could undo. None of those moments compare to what could be the most difficult decision I've faced in a video game — and it involves a massive stairway.

Baby Steps, the recent title from the creators of Ape Out game, isn’t exactly a selection-based adventure. Certainly not in any traditional sense. You simply have to explore a sprawling open world as the protagonist Nate, a adult in a onesie who can barely stand on his shaky limbs. It seems like one big ragebait joke, but Baby Steps’s appeal is in its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no situation that exemplifies that strength like a key selection that I can’t stop thinking about.

Alert: Spoilers

Some background information is needed at this point. Baby Steps starts when Nate is transported from his parents’ basement and into a fictional universe. He immediately finds that navigating this world is a struggle, as a lifetime spent as a sedentary person have atrophied his limbs. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate step by step, trying to maintain his balance.

The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to others. Throughout his hero’s journey, he encounters a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to help him out. A composed outdoorsman attempts to offer Nate a map, but he clumsily declines in the game’s funniest instant. When he drops into an inescapable pit and is presented with a ladder, he tries to play it off like he can manage alone and actually wants to be stuck in the hole. During the narrative, you see numerous frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to receive help.

The Defining Decision

That comes to a head in Baby Steps game’s one true moment of selection. As Nate gets close to finishing his adventure, he discovers that he must ascend of a snowy mountain. The unofficial caretaker of the world (who Nate has actively avoided up to this point) appears to tell him that there are two ways up. If he’s up for a challenge, he can choose a very lengthy and dangerous hiking trail named The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game has to offer; choosing it looks risky to anyone.

But there’s a other possibility: He can simply ascend a enormous coiled steps instead and arrive at the peak in a few minutes. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Master” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.

An Agonizing Decision

I am very serious when I say that this is an painful decision in this situation. 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 centered around the fact that he’s self-conscious of his body and his masculinity. Every time he sees that impressive outdoorsman, it’s a painful recollection of what he fails to be. Undertaking The Challenge could be a time where he can prove that he’s as able as his one-sided rival, but that path is likely laden with more embarrassing pratfalls. Is it worth struggling just to demonstrate something?

The stairs, on the flip side, give Nate another big moment to decide between receiving aid or refusing it. The user doesn't get to decide in about they decline guidance, but they can choose to provide Nate with respite and take the stairs. It might seem like an simple decision, but Baby Steps is devilishly clever about causing suspicion anytime you encounter an easy option. The world is filled with intentional pitfalls that turn a safe route into a setback instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Will Nate get to the very summit just to be disappointed by a final joke? And more troubling, is he prepared to be humiliated once again by being made to address some weirdo Lord?

No Right or Wrong

The beauty of that moment is that there’s no right or wrong answer. Each path brings about a genuine moment of protagonist evolution and catharsis for Nate. If you decide to take on The Manbreaker, it’s an philosophical victory. Nate eventually obtains a moment to show that he’s as capable as everyone else, consciously choosing a difficult route rather than enduring one that he has no choice but to follow. It’s challenging, and maybe ill-advised, but it’s the dose of confidence that he craves.

But there’s no shame in the staircase as well. To choose that path is to at last permit Nate to take support. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick awaiting him. The steps are not a joke. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he does not fall to the bottom if he stumbles. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Midway through, he even has a conversation with the hiker who has, of course, chosen to take The Challenge. He attempts to act casual, but you can see that he’s worn out, quietly regretting the unnecessary challenge. By the time Nate gets to the top and has to pay his debt, addressing his new Master, the agreement barely appears so unpleasant. Who has energy for shame by this odd character?

Personal Reflection

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