Does 'Elden Ring' Need A Pause Function? Should FromSoftware Make Games More Accessible? 

What if I was forced at gunpoint to play with three broken arms and my 2yr old was crying while clawing my eyes out, what then?

Why are you playing games when a 2 year old is in the room. Play with your 2 year old. Play the game when they’re in bed

Yes. For everytime my mom needs to talk to me, urgently, now (I am 45 by the way), no matter what I am doing.

I am disabled and my wrists also can go numb I play as long as I can the I stop till my hands are no anymore

The logical dissonance in people arguing against the simple convenience of including an offline Pause function baffles me. • Sekiro had a Pause button (and it didn't hurt the experience whatsoever). • The functional ability of Pausing *_already exists in Elden Ring_* (albeit incredibly inconvenient.) (Navigating to the Help Menu or on PS5 you can also either switch to a media app or Rest Mode...) In what world does using a conventional Pause Button instead frantically shuffling through menus make for "a completely different type of game" ?? Also, to address the straw-man argument that "if you give people X they'll start asking for Y"... This might apply to the Difficulty debates, but a Pause function has nothing to do with difficulty. It's a QUALITY OF LIFE feature. Its inclusion in Sekiro was universally praised, even by the most diehard of FromSoft fans. It had no impact on difficulty. In fact, Sekiro is considered by many as one of, if not, *_the_* most difficult of Soulslike FS games.

No but combat should lock you out of travel like a dungeon does…. NOT LOCK YOU OUT OF THE WHOLE MAP ITSELF

What I don't understand what does Alana not use an alternate controller that accommodates her disability I watch a YMS and he also has this same issue yet got an alternate controller so he adapted to his disability. What I'm hearing here is games need to adapt to me I take no responsibility kind of pointing to a bigger social issue 🤷

Christ that was like a jackal sniper in HALO 2!

Im no elden ring expert, but as a guy who played through it & finished it one time atleast, I never needed to "pause" since every boss takes at most a few minutes to beat. At what point do I need to "pause it"? I can just replay the boss. Something tells me you would be able to read certain boss pattern if you could "pause" etc.

I agree that the word disability is conflated and overused, but why is a pause button so controversial? Especially if people are coming out and saying you can pause by using help, why not just make opening any menu a pause? Like it doesn't impact anyone but yourself and makes it more "accessible" to real life. Sometimes we have unexpected tasks come up. I can pause my fuckin corporate job if I need to take care of my kid for a sec, can I just pause the game I play to have fun without the hardcore barrier of not pausing with the push of a button instead of 3 or whatever? Like there are plenty of harder games that still let you pause, brief shit comes up that I would rather not put me in a bad mood because I'm finally about to beat a really hard boss, but I can't quit.

Yes, it does.

Do people realize you can just stop and exit back to the main menu ? I feel like there are a lot of people who don't realize you can do that and if you're in a fight but have to leave just dip 🤷 you'll get your souls back. All I hear are people who don't enjoy a challenge ! Formsoftwear games are based around Risk = Reward. If you want them to make it easier then you're just robbing yourself of feeling like you've truly over come the odds. !! A pause button already exists you just go into your character screen and go over an item & hit explanation And Bam!!! The game pauses !! It shows anyone complaining here just doesn't put in the work 😒 and doesn't think outside the box, don't do any research b/c the game isn't ment to hand feed you like a newborn infant. If the game is too difficult for you and you haven't learned from your failures which is another integral Lesson you're supposed to learn in each formsoftwear game. You take failure and learn from it not run it down mid like a mindless zombie.

there is a pause button. its called help.

The last bit about relationships sounded personal! Are you OK, there?

My solution is just to crouch and hide in a bush

It already has a "pause" button. Start - Equipment - Help - Menu Explanation

I think a lot of this whole discourse comes down to the use of the word disability… I’m with you that it’s not really addressing disabilities, because everything she mentioned at first are really just annoyances and inconveniences. Those aren’t disabilities in the way most people know or understand, and those are things that the person can change or deal with… However, I don’t fully agree with you about the Souls style of games don’t need a pause… To me, Pause or pausing a game is a basic function of a game that all games should have. We have something like Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor that do it 8n their own ways that can work, and still maintain the same spirit/aim that other Souls-style games have. So not having a pause option being there is a fair criticism of the genre and of Elden Ring itself. I don’t feel including that would impact the overall core experience in a way that compromises everything. At the end of the day, you still have to beat that boss or deal with that challenge after you pause and continue playing. As far as difficulty settings, we have that same thing in Jedi Fallen Order and Survivor as well, so it can work. But Elden Ring and other Souls games are different kinds of approaches to the genre, so it doesn’t bother me as much to not have that in Elden Ring. Again, it’s an extra option that wouldn’t hurt the overall experience for those who want the true souls experience, but it’s not something that is dire to have in comparison to anything else.

this is the push back ever body that has kids saying we make it work

I heard she fought for disabled access may she needs to listen beter

Na there is no penalty for death outside of rune loss. Don't carry leveling runes into a boss problem solved?

do they know?

Every Site of Grace is a pause area.

Hmm. I kinda agree with both, but after hearing Erik's arguments I kind of agree more with his sentiment. However, I really don't like when games have "mash this button to do this one thing" (I have not encountered this in a FromSoft game). An example would be stopping a car in Spiderman, where you mash a button to stop the car. There's no skill there and it is not fun. Thankfully in that example they actually have an accessibility option to just hold the button instead.

I also don't understand how it detracts from your purist experience for there to be a pause enabler option buried in the options menu for offline player. Having to quit just before your about to finish off a boss because real life happened has made me quit a couple of From Software games.

I hate the term 'situational disability'. Use 'limitation' or something. Using 'disability' is kinda weird and I see why there is anger at this. I know it's an industry term (that doesn't make it right). Some corporate hr dimwit was bored and wanted to come up another buzzword because that's part of their job in 2024. (source: Me, an hr dimwit w 20 years exp) Use words like 'Distracted' 'Preoccupied' 'Inattentive' 'Distrait' 'Diverted' 'Unfocused' etc etc etc. You get the idea

The constitution should state that playing video games is an indispensable fundamental right

Shakespeare isn't "particularly accessible" to Anyone. Don't do hobbies while babysitting. Where in the world does the expectation originate that hobbies and art must be accessible and pausable? You either figure out how to grasp Shakepeare or you miss out on Shakespeare. "My hobby is reading plays but Shakespeare is too hard and it's elitist to not offer an easy version of Shakespeare." Yikes. I have kids, woman, dog... played FromSoft games for years with zero need for traditional pause button. Time management is the solution. I do pausable things while the kids are around. Common sense. I don't even bother with anything that requires continuous focus for immersion. Mastering a FromSoft game is akin to mastering an instrument. The folks at FromSoft are artists; they make art. We take art as the creator made it, we don't send it back to the kitchen like a meal. FromSoft has made it clear that Elden Ring represents their artistic vision. All the little parts make up the whole. So I wouldn't change one word of Shakespeare. I would rise to the challenge rather than asking the art to lower itself to be within my reach.

Single player games should have pause. There’s really nothing else to say here. And yes, when I play multi-player game offline, I play a fundamentally different game and I expect developers to implement that game properly. By the way, having to play for longer is not an easy mode.

it wouldn't be a discussion about From Software without most people just talking past each other. It would be one thing to say including some feature X is more important than any particular design philosophy, but most people criticizing From Software don't really do that. Instead they deny, or can't understand, that some things, even seemingly smaller things like a pause button, will meaningfully change the game. It might change it for the better for some people and it's fair to wish it had those changes, but it's not fair to pretend it wouldn't be a change it for the worse for others.

I love how some comments are like: "No! It doesn't need a pause button. It ruins the artistic vision of Miyazaki!" Other comments are like: "It doesn't need a pause button because it already has one. Just go to the menu, then here, then there, than that and there you go game paused" Okay, so why are y'all so mad about her asking for a QoL improvment for a functionality that is already there? lmao I swear FromSoft fans are such elitist smoothbrains sometimes. Sometimes I wish FromSoft would introduce an easy mode into their games, just to shut these morons up once and for all.

If FromSoftware made games for everyone, Elden Ring probably wouldn't exist

I want to have a cybernetics degree from a top 5 university. Even though I never studied the subject, I too want the certificate. Just write on the other certificates- have graduated with normal studies.

The "pause button" is standing outside of combat and interaction. Basically 95% of the game is when you can safely pause, for hours if you feel like it. What they want is a pause feature IN COMBAT of course. Fromsoft are thankfully not going to cater to that nonsense.

This could be a bit harsh but if the game doesn’t have a pause button and it’s a serious issue ,just dont play the game. I dont play a lot of games i used to anymore cause online sessions would take too long,requiring 15-25 minutes of your time.Very hard for me to get that uninterrupted time.

Someone beat the final boss of this DLC with like a plastic jazz trombone or something. Not sure if a pause would work within ER (would it conflict with the co-op?). I mean, there is a pause button in Elden Ring. You got to system, and select quit game or return to desktop. When I think accessibility I think mode to help for color blindness To be fair, elden ring isn't a little batch its on par with where Skyrim was 2 years after release. It's a mainstream game so if anything From games have become more accesible.

DEI in gaming example here, I agree with you 100% Kain.

Couldn't agree with you more. You "pick your moments" with gaming. I don't always have time to game (3 game streams mostly 3-9 hours each per week) is that an argument for me to boot up one of those games that plays itself for me? No, I will find the time just like anyone in that kind of restrictive situation (and I do). If you've got kids the same thing applies. I don't want all games to start being watered down with numerous features to the point that they are all the same... like the survival genre which basically allows you to gear everything to your advantage if you want - I don't play those games because I know I can cheat if I want. I just want the experience the devs provide... how they intended. Do I think a pause button is the "be all and end all" though? No, and if there is a way of implementing it (like "Sekiro" did prior to this game) then fine... providing there are no limiting aspects (like the removal of the message/co-op/invasion/etc systems) for their inclusion. "From" had the opportunity to put pause in Elden Ring but they didn't and I believe there is a reason. Be it technical or because the devs believe that it compromises the game somewhat. I don't know why they didn't add one but they didn't. It's their game at the end of the day, it's Miyazaki's scope. The devs decisions should not be catering to a subset of individuals over the collective many's intended experience. This is coming from someone with autism. I don't agree with the purists that you should play the game naked/solo for the true experience... you should play the game to the degree where you are having fun. No ones win is invalidated however you won...(with ashes, or not) if you lost because of your kid or whatever... oh well that happens. Maybe play it later or play something with the feature you want instead of asking these developers to add things to make it easier for you as an individual. At the end of the day It's a From Software game - dying and overcoming adversity is the point.

Lots of Souls fans in the comments! :D

As a working adult with an adult job and partner, I am uninterested in games that dont respect my time. This includes games that make you spend countless hours grinding for no good reason, and games without a pause button. I understand that not every game is going to be for me, but it adds no value to the game to take away my ability to attend to life. Period. Its not a difficulty thing, it's a fact that time is the currency of your life and should only be spent on things that bring fulfillment. Having to replay a section because you have no pause button isnt fulfillment.

"Situational Disability" is actually the technical term, which is what she's referring to, don't get lose in the vocab here, the message behind it is what is important.

I think Alanah talked a lot of sense tbh. While I think that not every game needs to made for everyone, some sensible QoL improvements would be welcome. There’s got to be a balance somewhere. A pause button shouldn’t be a controversial thing (and it’s also already in the game btw in the form of pressing the help button on the map screen, so why not implement it properly, or get rid of the functionality altogether) To be clear I also agree with a lot of what you said especially with regards to acceptance. I just think there’s probably some kind of happy medium somewhere that wouldn’t fundamentally change the experience. If we gatekeep/guard these games too closely then they don’t continue to improve.

Elden ring does not need a pause button. Boss fights really are not that long and even if you die it’s not a big deal. People should be preparing accordingly when fighting a boss anyway. If you lose a ton of runes dying to a boss it’s kinda your own fault for trying to fight with that many runes to begin with.

all i can say to developers is not to cave to the social discourse around their product. sell your game and make your game how you want and go with what works for your product, the appeal and selling point for elden ring is the difficulty and challenge , they obviously built this game with hardcore gamers in mind, they should only cater to the people that want to play it as is.

Most people (me included) don't really have an issue with a pause function or whatever, but with the fact Alanah considers having a kid as a disability and that she actually tried to gaslight everybody who had an issue with this, after that. That's what the whole fuss is really about... She shouldn't have brought children into this whole argument at all or just phrase it (much) better. Edit: She actually finally clarified (which she haven't done even in her second video, where she tried explaining things even more) she don't think having kids is a disability. I still don't understand why it took her few days to finally say it plain and simple without any bullshit, but better late than never.

No.

No disrespect, but being a technical term doesn't mean it's not a ridiculous term - because it's basically just describing life... it's like saying anything that stops you playing a game is a disability.... sleep? work? lacking a computer/console? These are not disabilities - they are circumstance. There are real disabilities - which means things that are not choice driven. Having to choose between playing the game, or dealing with your 2 year old isn't a disability. It's a choice - though frankly, it shouldn't be a choice, it should be common sense. I get it, I have often got annoyed at Elden Ring's lack of a pause button; because it's inconvenient. Yet I survive. I personally get more annoyed at some of the AI and poor frame performance - because that was definitely a Dev issue. I have to say Alanah's description of situational disability really comes off as entitled. The issue of her hands not being able to button mash is unfortunate... and perhaps that just means there's certain games she shouldn't be playing - same as me not playing competitive shooters, as my reflexes aren't good enough. We are getting into a world where EVERYONE thinks they are entitled to EVERY experience - and that's leading to very selfish and self-adsorbed people IMO.

Not even gonna watch the video because this is a ridiculous question. YES, EVERY VIDEO GAME SHOULD HAVE A PAUSE FUNCTION. To do otherwise is to insult the player's time. PERIOD.

Simply put..No

Come on! Enough with the purist BS! A pause function in offline mode does not change the nature of Elden ring. Just like refusing to provide ultra widescreen support other than black bars. It is just From Software taking themselves way too seriously! It's a fucking game. Get off your high horses!