Speculation: "Pause" function in Sekiro. Something no one is talking about.

[MajulaDream]

It just hit me that there will certainly be a "Pause" option in Sekiro. I am completely convinced, even though its been a feature that hasn't been in From's games since Demon's Souls.

Why do I say this? Two reasons; Sekiro has NO persistent online functions. It is completely offline unlike Bloodborne and Souls. What purpose would there be then in no pause?
Secondly FROM has talked about ACTIVISION's input and help in accessibility of the game. Being able to Pause certainly seems a logical addition given the info.

What do you think? Should the game stick to FROM's "no-pause" tradition even though the online reasons are non-existent? Is this an acceptable amount of accessibility? Would it hamper the challenge/atmosphere of the game?
Discuss.

Also, I'm excited for the game, just curious if this would be another departure too far for some.

 

[KoolAid]

No one is talking about it because we don't know if it's a thing or not

 

[subtropisch]

I hope it has pause. That was always something I disliked about the last From games.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Has a Pause button been confirmed? If not, this is speculation built upon an assumption, and there's nothing to discuss here.

If yes, a Pause button isn't a concession to accessibility, it's a concession to understanding that as an adult playing the game, sometimes actual real life might demand that I step away from the game for a minute, and I shouldn't be penalized for putting my controller down for a minute because I didn't want my house to be on fire or something.

 

[rude]

There is no cogent rationalization in favor of a single-player game not having a pause button.

 

[Renna Hazel]

Yes, every offline game should allow you to pause. What is the argument for not allowing that offline?

 

[signal]

It just hit me that there will certainly be a "Pause" option in Sekiro. I am completely convinced, even though its been a feature that hasn't been in From's games since Demon's Souls.

Click to shrink...

I think I know what you mean but doesn't the wording here imply there was a pause function in Demon's (which there wasn't)?

Why do I say this? Two reasons; Sekiro has NO persistent online functions. It is completely offline unlike Bloodborne and Souls. What purpose would there be then in no pause?

Click to shrink...

There could still be some 'npc invasion'-ish mechanic in the game, or they could just for whatever reason not want you to pause ever. Don't think it is at least entirely due to the game being online or not. You can't pause in the other games when playing offline or when in boss rooms for example.

Anyway I don't think it's a huge deal. It might make some situations less tense but if I think back on all of the time I put into the souls series, I don't think the experience would be significantly affected if there was an option to pause.

 

[BadWolf]

Would be dumb if it didn't.

Really dumb.

 

[Doskoi Panda]

It's too early to say whether or not Sekiro even has the online functionality that FROM deemed important to the experience of playing the Souls games in particular.

 

[KiLAM]

Uhh..Casuals

Jk..I mean it never was a big deal for me. Just go to the side, do your thing and come back. I honestly hope they don't put that in because I want to see more people complaining about it.

 

[boontobias]

Pause = Photo mode

 

[juliamcardinals]

It's just a pause bottom ... it doesn't affect the game negatively

 

[LinkStrikesBack]

If the game has no online functionality, then whether accessing a menu pauses the game or not should be down to whether they want using your inventory to be a 'safe' option or not. Sometimes games don't want it to be safe (e.g. Zombi u, other souls games), which is fine either way.

 

[Deleted member 2618]

If it has no online, then theres even less reason to not have this basic function.

 

[MajulaDream]

Has a Pause button been confirmed? If not, this is speculation built upon an assumption, and there's nothing to discuss here.

If yes, a Pause button isn't a concession to accessibility, it's a concession to understanding that as an adult playing the game, sometimes actual real life might demand that I step away from the game for a minute, and I shouldn't be penalized for putting my controller down for a minute because I didn't want my house to be on fire or something.

Click to shrink...

Could be discussed if the game would benefit from Pause or not tho, no? :)

 

[Lakitu]

I'd be fine with it, if it did. Not like you couldn't just quit and reload the game in Dark Souls either.

 

[signal]

There is no cogent rationalization in favor of a single-player game not having a pause button.

Click to shrink...

I don't think it's a significant change but there is at least some shift in the way you play and the tenseness you may feel from not being able to pause. You might dislike the fact that it is not an option but it's a valid rationalization.

 

[Weiss]

Sure, if From wants to appeal to the casual scrub diaper baby crowd.

 

[Papercuts]

I am fully expecting "pause" to open the inventory again while everything moves, even if there's no online mechanics present.

 

[KayonXaikyre]

People need to hit up Otogi. It's probably going to be closer to that kind of game than Dark Souls and I'm excited! It's a single player game with no online so pausing only makes sense. I don't see it making it that much easier unless you're doing frame perfect pause abuse which I'd imagine most people don't do and of course you can control whether or not you do that. Plus in games like bloodborne there were safe spots to rest for the most part so it won't change too much. You can pause Ninja Gaiden Black and that didn't change how fucked up that game got depending upon the difficulty lol.

 

[Odeko]

It's never really mattered much outside of the gameplay consequence of having to prepare better for battles since you could just quit to main menu at any point due to the constant auto-save.

Because of that, I'd prefer it to be like Hollow Knight where you can pause to a system menu for things like options, but opening the inventory doesn't pause the game since I like that added realism and limitation.

 

[silva1991]

Never heard about it being in the game or not. No reason not to have it in an offline game.

 

[Ridley327]

You can play any of the Souls games 100% offline and they still didn't have a pause button. Do people just have that much of a hangup around exiting the game to save their progress when they're not playing? It's not like any of the games took 2 minutes to load back up into them.

...well, pre-patch Bloodborne was like that, but that's the exception that was eventually corrected.

 

[ElephantShell]

That's a back of the box feature if I've ever seen one.

- immersive samurai setting
- visceral combat
- pause button

 

[FallenGrace]

Has a Pause button been confirmed? If not, this is speculation built upon an assumption, and there's nothing to discuss here.

If yes, a Pause button isn't a concession to accessibility, it's a concession to understanding that as an adult playing the game, sometimes actual real life might demand that I step away from the game for a minute, and I shouldn't be penalized for putting my controller down for a minute because I didn't want my house to be on fire or something.

Click to shrink...

If you're more concerned about your game save than your house on fire you have bigger issues than this topic to be honest.

 

[Deleted member 249]

Could be discussed if the game would benefit from Pause or not tho, no? :)

Click to shrink...

That's why I added my response to the question anyway :P
I think a Pause button should be in every game.

If you're more concerned about your game save than your house on fire you have bigger issues than this topic to be honest.

Click to shrink...

That's... what I said.

 

[Daniel Westlake]

I don't know I'm actually interested now, maybe someone could tag a journalist on Twitter see if anyone mention anything about a pause function when they saw the game?

 

[Alex840]

At last!

From have realised people have lives that can't be 100% dedicated to video games!

 

[Deleted member 8674]

No pause online and pause offline. Simple really.

 

[rusty chrome]

A lot of people can't get into the Souls games due to no pausing. What would the excuse be for Sekiro considering it's 100% single player? Granted, it never bothered me in Soulsborne genre, but Sekiro isn't the same type of game, so I expect pause.

 

[Azzanadra]

I hope there's no pause, it 1) offends the artistic sensibilities I have come to expect from these games and 2) diminishes my own accomplishment when I beat it.

 

[Prelude]

You've always been able to pause in the Souls games, it's not a big deal.

 

[signal]

A lot of people can't get into the Souls games due to no pausing.

Click to shrink...

Why?

 

[rhandino]

I don't get the issue with having a Pause option

I mean, Ni-oh had one and it didn't make bosses any easier but it helped me to open the door to relatives while in the middle of a though boss.

 

[HStallion]

OP you are partially right. To pause the game in Sekiro you need to find and equip the proper item. Its a gameplay feature.

 

[Syril]

It just hit me that there will certainly be a "Pause" option in Sekiro. I am completely convinced, even though its been a feature that hasn't been in From's games since Demon's Souls.

Click to shrink...

Isn't that more a consequence of From barely making anything that wasn't a Souls game since then? And could you really not pause in Armored Core 5?

 

[Kyoufu]

No reason for a single player offline game to not have pause functionality.

 

[Orochinagis]

Well is a single player game I think? so yeah, would be weird to not have a pause

 

[Weiss]

Wait this game won't have online multiplayer?

 

[shaneo632]

Sometimes you just need a poo and unless it's absolutely vital a game shouldn't punish you for that.

 

[HStallion]

Wait this game won't have online multiplayer?

Click to shrink...

Nope. Totally single player affair.

 

[NEE HEE HEE]

I like Souls but no pause is just stupid bullshit. And for Sekiro, a non online game, to have no pause would be the height of bullshit.

 

[Jedi2016]

Eh, I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[Weiss]

Nope. Totally single player affair.

Click to shrink...

Oh dang.

I never used multiplayer for much of anything, I preferred the lonely atmosphere, but I wonder if that's going to impact the game's sales.

 

[MajulaDream]

No reason for a single player offline game to not have pause functionality.

Click to shrink...

I know it seems straightforward, but this isn't just a game lol. Its From Software. The pedigree of what has come before is why some folks may not be happy (and others will). Its interesting, the pros and cons..

 

[McScroggz]

I think I know what you mean but doesn't the wording here imply there was a pause function in Demon's (which there wasn't)?


There could still be some 'npc invasion'-ish mechanic in the game, or they could just for whatever reason not want you to pause ever. Don't think it is at least entirely due to the game being online or not. You can't pause in the other games when playing offline or when in boss rooms for example.

Anyway I don't think it's a huge deal. It might make some situations less tense but if I think back on all of the time I put into the souls series, I don't think the experience would be significantly affected if there was an option to pause.

Click to shrink...

NPC invasions are just another type of enemy encounter. The reason you can't pause in Souls game is because you can't pause the game on another players game whether they are invading you or summoned by you to help.

Ultimately NPC invasions were an opportunity to have enemies similar in AI, gear and abilities to a really player. However, there's nothing fundamentally different than a regular enemy and no logical reason to prevent pausing in the game.

I'm not going to boycott the game if I can't pause, but I will be super annoyed if I can't. If I need to use the bathroom or go get a drink or anything like that in a purely single player game I should be able to just pause the game.

 

[Vicious17]

Its a 100% offline game with, far as Im aware no online component.

A pause function is expected, itd be weirder if there wasn't one.

 

[rusty chrome]

Why?

Click to shrink...

I'm not one of them but it's probably because most people don't sit down and game for long sessions without having to pause every once in awhile? What if you're in the middle of a boss fight and the phone rings? You're just not gonna answer because the game is more important? I think it's a fairly obvious reason. Nearly all games allow pausing, so to not allow it even offline, I could see how some people would be turned off by it.

Wait this game won't have online multiplayer?

Click to shrink...

Zero multiplayer. It's 100% action single player.

 

[Deleted member 1003]

I mean, if it isn't a Souls game and there isn't any multiplayer, then sure, why not?

 

[signal]

NPC invasions are just another type of enemy encounter. The reason you can't pause in Souls game is because you can't pause the game on another players game whether they are invading you or summoned by you to help.

Ultimately NPC invasions were an opportunity to have enemies similar in AI, gear and abilities to a really player. However, there's nothing fundamentally different than a regular enemy and no logical reason to prevent pausing in the game.

Click to shrink...

That's what I'm saying. NPC invasions are basically just another offline enemy so I don't know if 'being online' was the sole reason you were never able to pause the game, as they didn't let you pause when playing offline either.