Thanks to a brilliantly simple Elden Ring mod, you can now pause the game.
As PC Gamer spotted, Nexus Mods user TechieW whipped up a simple pause mod that does what it says on the tin: freeze time with a big-old "game paused" screen. The kicker is that Elden Ring's built in anti-cheat needs to be disabled for the mod to work, which isn't uncommon when modding games.
Note that this mod won't mess up your game if you run it without correctly disabling the anti-cheat, it just won't work at all, according to TechieW. Our friends at Windows Central have a great guide on disabling the anti-cheat for offline play and/or mod support if you're looking to set things up.
Like FromSoftware's previous games, Elden Ring doesn't let you pause because, when you play as intended, it's technically an always-online title due to the nature of its multiplayer. But with this mod enabled, you can pause the game at any time, as you would in most other games. However, because of the way the mod works, unpausing causes a fast-forward effect for a brief period, which might be awkward if you pause right before a giant sword connects with your temple in a "Yep, that's me" cutaway.
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