I’ve never played a FromSoftware game – I don’t love three-hour grindy boss battles enough to subject myself to that experience, no matter how compelling the story may be and how beautiful the open world is. Nonetheless, there’s a reason FromSoftware has elevated itself into the gaming canon. Its games have incredible level and enemy design, deep lore, and people seem to enjoy throwing themselves over and over at the same boss until they beat it. More power to them. It’s that high difficulty level that has made FromSoftware games incredibly popular and culturally relevant, which made Elden Ring a phenomenon before the game even launched last year.

FromSoftware games are often referred to as ‘counter-casual’ because of their inaccessibility to new players. As Features Editor Ben Sledge wrote, Elden Ring has no pause menus without long workarounds, so every time your doorbell rings or you have to take a phone call, your character in the game is vulnerable to attacks. This is a feature common to FromSoftware games (with the exception of Sekiro) and rarely seen elsewhere. Supposedly, it’s because of the games’ seamless online capabilities, but it’s also widely believed by players that it’s to create a more immersive experience where you’re never safe. Ask on Reddit why there’s no pause function and you have to die every time something else comes up, and you’ll be battered with a deluge of ‘git gud’ and ‘just save and quit’.

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If FromSoftware games are intended to be played permanently online, there is likely a mechanical reason for not having a pause button, yet most triple-A games have pause menus when playing solo. Not adding a pause function makes the game inherently more inaccessible to people with other duties outside of playing video games, i.e. everyone. If you have children, if someone rings the doorbell, even if you just have to get up and pee, that boss you’re fighting is going to kill you, or you’re going to lose your progress against them. In today’s day and age, is there really an excuse for not having a pause button in solo play?

Elden Ring knight from the game's front cover on their knees

In that case, it seems that the choice not to have a pause button even when playing offline and solo is deliberate. By choosing to prioritise immersion and experience over usability and accessibility, FromSoftware games shift towards being more art object than universally playable game. By building up an immersive experience and disincentivising breaking it, FromSoft is creating a distinct barrier for entry in terms of accessibility, much like ‘high art’ has a barrier for those unfamiliar with understanding and processing contemporary art. The experience is part of FromSoftware’s artistic vision, and its core demographic understands this – that’s why the idea of adding a pause menu engenders so much resistance from long-time players. They believe it’s against the core beliefs and purpose of the game to make it easier for everybody to play it, just like how the high art world is cut off from many because of class and wealth.

There are countless mediums where the experience of a work can supersede the practicality of it – film, for one. The horror genre is an interesting parallel, because more surrealist films like Skinamarink and Eraserhead rely more on visual language and atmosphere to evoke terror than they do coherent plot. FromSoftware’s games, too, are focused on creating and maintaining atmosphere, and because much of its games’ lore is hidden, players can beat the game knowing very little about the world. Games like this are few and far between, since mainstream players aren’t typically looking for a confusing experience, and FromSoftware games stand out in this niche – confusion can elevate an experience, and in that as well, these games inch closer to art object.

A Hunter in Eileen the Crows armor in Bloodborne the video game

FromSoftware has leveraged this inaccessibility to elevate it above other games in the market, by publicising its games as manifestations of artistic visions. It’s not a mass-market product because of the way it intentionally alienates potential players, but that’s exactly what appeals to hardcore fans of the company. If it wanted to make a product for everybody, it would – but it doesn’t , and in the free market, nobody can stop it. And perhaps we shouldn’t. Intentional execution of artistic intent is something we should value in any creative medium. There are plenty of other games with pause functions and changeable difficulty settings that players who aren’t willing to frustrate themselves endlessly can dive into instead. I’ll have to play those instead.

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