I've encountered some difficult decisions in video games. Several of my selections in Life is Strange remain on my mind. Ghost of Tsushima final sequence made me put my controller down for around ten minutes while I thought through my alternatives. I am responsible for so many Krogan fatalities in Mass Effect that I regret deeply. Not a single one of those situations measure up to what possibly is the hardest choice I've ever made in gaming — and it has to do with a massive stairway.
Baby Steps, the latest game from the creators of Ape Out, is not really a decision-focused experience. 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’s strength comes from its deceptively impactful story that will surprise you when you’re least expecting it. There’s no moment that exemplifies that strength like a pivotal decision that remains on my mind.
Some scene setting is needed at this point. Baby Steps begins as the protagonist is suddenly taken from the basement of his home and into a fantasy world. He soon realizes that walking through it is a difficulty, as years spent as a inactive individual have deteriorated his physical condition. The humorous physicality of it all arises from players controlling Nate one step at a time, trying to keep his ragdoll body standing.
The protagonist needs aid, but he has trouble voicing that to anyone. Throughout his hero’s journey, he comes in contact with a group of unusual individuals in the world who all offer to assist him. A cool, confident hiker seeks to provide Nate a navigation aid, but he clumsily declines in the game’s most hilarious scene. When he falls into an unavoidable hole and is given a way out, he strives to appear nonchalant like he can manage alone and truly prefers to be trapped in the pit. As the plot unfolds, you experience no shortage of frustrating vignettes where Nate makes life harder for himself because he’s too self-conscious to take support.
Everything builds up in Baby Steps game’s single genuine instance of decision. As Nate gets close to finishing his journey, he finds that he must climb to the top of a snowy mountain. The default guardian of the world (who Nate has desperately tried to duck up to this point) comes to let him know that there are two paths upward. If he’s prepared for difficulty, he can opt for a particularly extended and dangerous hiking trail named The Manbreaker. It is the most formidable barrier Baby Steps game includes; taking it seems inadvisable to anyone.
But there’s a other possibility: He can just walk up a enormous coiled steps in its place and get to the top in just moments. The single stipulation? He’ll have to call the groundskeeper “Lord” from now on if he opts for the effortless way.
I am absolutely sincere 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. Part of Nate’s journey is focused on the truth that he’s insecure of his physical appearance and manhood. Each instance he sees that handsome trekker, it’s a hard reminder of what he fails to be. Taking on The Obstacle 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 paved with more humiliating failures. Is it justified struggling just to make a statement?
The steps, on the contrary, provide Nate with another significant opportunity to either accept or reject help. The player has no choice in if they decline guidance, but they can opt to give Nate a break and opt for the steps. It might seem like an easy choice, but Baby Steps game is devilishly clever about creating doubt each time you see a simple solution. The environment includes design traps that turn a safe route into a obstacle instantly. Is the staircase yet another trap? Could Nate reach at the peak just to be let down by some last-second gag? And more concerning, is he ready to be diminished another time by being compelled to refer to an odd character as Lord?
The excellence of that situation is that there’s no perfect selection. Either one leads to a genuine moment of personal growth and emotional release for Nate. If you opt to attempt The Challenge, it’s an personal triumph. Nate eventually obtains a opportunity to demonstrate that he’s as capable as anyone else, voluntarily accepting 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 bit of empowerment that he needs.
But there’s no embarrassment in the steps too. To select that route is to at last permit Nate to accept help. And when he does so, he realizes that there’s no hidden trick in store for him. The staircase is not a trick. They continue for a while, but they’re easy to walk up and he doesn’t slide completely down if he falls. It’s a easy journey after lengthy difficulty. Partway through, he even has a discussion with the trekker who has, of course, chosen to take 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 arrives at the peak and has to pay his debt, calling the character Lord, the arrangement scarcely looks so nasty. Who has concern for humiliation by this strange individual?
During my game, I chose the staircase. Part of me just {wanted to call
A software engineer and tech writer passionate about open-source projects and AI advancements.
