Elden Ring is the latest action RPG to come from the makers of Dark Souls, FromSoftware. The big difference between Elden Ring and the studio's other challenging RPGs is that the former is a massive open-world game, allowing players the opportunity to tackle the story on their own time. There's so much to see and do in Elden Ring that it can be pretty overwhelming at times, and some players might wonder if there's a way to pause the game to take a quick break from the action.
Some FromSoftware games, like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, has a pause button to let players stop everything that's going on in the world, but other titles don't have the option at all, and Elden Ring sort of falls into that category. The developers may not have included a standard way to pause Elden Ring, but fans have found a workaround for players.
How to Pause in Elden Ring
Elden Ring players cannot pause the game by just pressing the options button on their controller --it takes a little more than that. If players want to stop the action and get up to take care of their business without getting killed, they can use the method below to bypass FromSoftware's design.
- Open the Inventory menu with the Options button on PS4/PS5 (Menu button on Xbox).
- Press the touchpad on PS (or Change View button on Xbox) to open up the Help menu.
- From there, choose the option that says "Menu Explanation."
- The following text box will explain how the menu works, and the game will pause, and it will stay paused as long as the menu is open.
- Players can step away and then press the button to close the menu once they're back and ready to keep exploring The Lands Between.
Another way to ensure that players stay safe from Elden Ring's brutal monsters is to rest at one of the many Sites of Lost Grace scattered about the world. Upon resting at one of these "bonfires," players can do several things, such as equip Runes, use Golden Seeds to upgrade their Flask slots, and change the time of day, among other things. Any defeated enemies will also respawn upon sitting down, but players will have their health and FP fully healed.
While players sit at a Site of Lost Grace, they won't be able to get attacked by enemies. However, if an enemy is really close to a player, they might not be able to sit at a Lost Grace, so be sure that things nearby are safe before trying to sit down.
Of course, the best thing for players to do to ensure their progress is saved is to head into the menu and quit and save out of the game. Once players open the game back up, they can continue from where they left off.
Elden Ring is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
