In the week and change since Elden Ring’s launch, conversations about its difficulty have run the same, tired course as those concerning all its FromSoftware predecessors. The biggest point of contention seems to lie with the player’s inability to pause the game, but it turns out you can pause Elden Ring, no mods required. It just takes a bit of finessing.
As noted by Iron Pineapple, who runs a great YouTube channel dedicated to Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and other Souls-like games, brave Tarnished who need a break but can’t fast travel to a checkpoint can simply navigate to their inventory and ask the game to explain its menus. Much like Elden Ring’s early tutorials, this freezes the world around you, keeping you safe from whatever jerks are currently trying to slice you into ribbons.
Elden Ring, for better or worse, is a continuation of the legacy FromSoftware established in 1994’s King’s Field and then officially made Its Whole Thing with 2009’s Demon’s Souls. Despite arriving amid a sea of tutorial-heavy, open-world adventures, Elden Ring doesn’t hold your hand. It gives very little indication of how anything works, opting instead to let you figure that out on your own. As such, newcomers are bound to bash their heads against its tough exterior.
The lack of a pause option, however, is a little different. While most complaints about FromSoftware’s formula make me roll my eyes, I understand where folks are coming from when they say they’d love a way to take an immediate break from the action. And it’s not like FromSoftware is completely averse to such a feature, either: 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, arguably the most difficult game in the studio’s modern lineup, allowed players to pause whenever they liked. It can be done.
Of course, all of this goes out the window as soon as multiplayer is involved, but come on, FromSoftware. Let folks pause Elden Ring without jumping through all these hoops. Your games—and really, life in general—are difficult enough to grasp as it is.
Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet will be ushering in a whole new generation of Pokémon late this year when it releases for Nintendo Switch. With its fresh set of starters, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly, a whole host of new and returning monsters will fill the ecosystems throughout the new open world. Which Pokémon will you be able to find? Look …
Home News We’ve seen them dance (opens in new tab), do and sometimes fail at parkour (opens in new tab), and generally feared for our futures due to them, but now the Boston Dynamics’ robots are doing something new. To be totally honest, it doesn’t scare me any less. The official Pompeii website explains (opens …
It’s the weekend. In fact, it’s the penultimate weekend of 2021. Where on earth has the time gone, eh? It feels like only yesterday that it was 2020 and the New Years glasses actually worked. Madness. The year isn’t going out with a whimper, though, at least not in terms of new games. There are …
The world of Pokémon Unite has got a little spookier, with the addition of Trevenant, the elder tree Pokémon. Trevenant falls into the defender class, but isn’t exactly a tank when it comes to HP, so you’ll need to think a little outside the box to keep your defences tight. Fortunately, we’ve done the thinking …
Image: Nintendo Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a wonderful game, thanks in no small part to its introduction of two new characters: the goth, bug-loving chameleon Flick and the sporty, fish-loving beaver C.J. And while Nintendo is very adamant they’re just “roommates,” fans can’t help but see the friends as a romantic couple, especially after …
Hood: Outlaws & Legends is available starting today as part of April’s PlayStation Plus lineup. After today’s free update, no Outlaw will be left behind, with full cross-platform invites allowing players to group up before heists across platforms. In addition, the Season 3: Ostara Battle Pass brings over a hundred epic new cosmetics to bolster …
You Can Actually Pause Elden Ring Without Mods
In the week and change since Elden Ring’s launch, conversations about its difficulty have run the same, tired course as those concerning all its FromSoftware predecessors. The biggest point of contention seems to lie with the player’s inability to pause the game, but it turns out you can pause Elden Ring, no mods required. It just takes a bit of finessing.
As noted by Iron Pineapple, who runs a great YouTube channel dedicated to Elden Ring, Dark Souls, and other Souls-like games, brave Tarnished who need a break but can’t fast travel to a checkpoint can simply navigate to their inventory and ask the game to explain its menus. Much like Elden Ring’s early tutorials, this freezes the world around you, keeping you safe from whatever jerks are currently trying to slice you into ribbons.
Elden Ring, for better or worse, is a continuation of the legacy FromSoftware established in 1994’s King’s Field and then officially made Its Whole Thing with 2009’s Demon’s Souls. Despite arriving amid a sea of tutorial-heavy, open-world adventures, Elden Ring doesn’t hold your hand. It gives very little indication of how anything works, opting instead to let you figure that out on your own. As such, newcomers are bound to bash their heads against its tough exterior.
The lack of a pause option, however, is a little different. While most complaints about FromSoftware’s formula make me roll my eyes, I understand where folks are coming from when they say they’d love a way to take an immediate break from the action. And it’s not like FromSoftware is completely averse to such a feature, either: 2019’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, arguably the most difficult game in the studio’s modern lineup, allowed players to pause whenever they liked. It can be done.
Of course, all of this goes out the window as soon as multiplayer is involved, but come on, FromSoftware. Let folks pause Elden Ring without jumping through all these hoops. Your games—and really, life in general—are difficult enough to grasp as it is.
Related Posts
Every Pokémon Confirmed For Pokémon Scarlet And Violet So Far
Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet will be ushering in a whole new generation of Pokémon late this year when it releases for Nintendo Switch. With its fresh set of starters, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly, a whole host of new and returning monsters will fill the ecosystems throughout the new open world. Which Pokémon will you be able to find? Look …
Boston Dynamics’ Spot Is Doing A Big Protecc At The Ancient City Of Pompeii
Home News We’ve seen them dance (opens in new tab), do and sometimes fail at parkour (opens in new tab), and generally feared for our futures due to them, but now the Boston Dynamics’ robots are doing something new. To be totally honest, it doesn’t scare me any less. The official Pompeii website explains (opens …
The Best New Games For Android This Week – Alien: Isolation, Nekograms And More
It’s the weekend. In fact, it’s the penultimate weekend of 2021. Where on earth has the time gone, eh? It feels like only yesterday that it was 2020 and the New Years glasses actually worked. Madness. The year isn’t going out with a whimper, though, at least not in terms of new games. There are …
Pokémon Unite Trevenant Build, Items, And Moves
The world of Pokémon Unite has got a little spookier, with the addition of Trevenant, the elder tree Pokémon. Trevenant falls into the defender class, but isn’t exactly a tank when it comes to HP, so you’ll need to think a little outside the box to keep your defences tight. Fortunately, we’ve done the thinking …
Animal Crossing’s Unofficial Gay Couple Gets Even Gayer After Update
Image: Nintendo Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a wonderful game, thanks in no small part to its introduction of two new characters: the goth, bug-loving chameleon Flick and the sporty, fish-loving beaver C.J. And while Nintendo is very adamant they’re just “roommates,” fans can’t help but see the friends as a romantic couple, especially after …
Heist-Based Multiplayer Hood: Outlaws & Legends Hits PS Plus Today: Here’s Everything You Need To Know
Hood: Outlaws & Legends is available starting today as part of April’s PlayStation Plus lineup. After today’s free update, no Outlaw will be left behind, with full cross-platform invites allowing players to group up before heists across platforms. In addition, the Season 3: Ostara Battle Pass brings over a hundred epic new cosmetics to bolster …