Elden Ring not having a pause button is not a question of gitting gud – Reader’s Feature

metro.co.uk:

A reader accepts almost all the difficulties of playing Elden Ring but insists that not letting you pause the game is a step too far.

‘Lol, noob.’ ‘Git gud scrub.’

If you’ve had the delight of seeing comments similar to this, then you may be aware of Elden Ring, developer FromSoftware’s most recent game that released towards the end of February to rave reviews.

I’m relatively new to their games, but all too familiar with their concept of difficulty, coupled with satisfaction when a particular boss is eventually defeated. Despite a host of different titles, this has been the FromSoftware staple that has garnered them a huge number of fans over the years. This is pretty much their ‘thing’.

For myself, I got carried along with the hype prior to release, and decided the beautiful open world, visual design of the characters, etc. were enough for me to take the plunge.

Here’s the thing though. I’m a wee bit older now. I have a job, kids, a dog that occasionally needs walked… basically, I have commitments. What I don’t have a lot of is time.

Time to devote to besting one particular foe or another who I chase down, only to watch as my health points drain to nothing from one hefty whack of a sword the size of an average five-door saloon, sending me back to a small glow-y fire point, sans any accumulated runes.

Again.

Now, I absolutely, whole heartedly, 100% do not want to suggest a beloved game mechanic from a developer should be replaced with some watered down ‘one size fits all’ that allows for the abilities of most gamers.

However, I have yet to see a valid reason as to why there can’t be a secondary option that caters for people who cannot devote their gaming hours to repetition until eventual success. I’m talking about an option