Mortal Shell 2 Is Proof Pause Buttons Work In Souls Games

Sorry Souls Purists, But Mortal Shell 2 Is Proof The Pause Button Works Screenshot taken by James Lucas. Published Aug 23, 2026, 9:03 AM EDT James Lucas is an Executive Editor at TheGamer who has worked in professional journalism since 2018. A Newcastle University graduate with a degree in Journalism, Media, and Culture, they have written hundreds of guides, news stories, and original reports, with bylines in IGN, NME, GaymingMag, and VG247, sourcing interviews with studio heads, legendary industry figures, prominent actors, and more. An expert on FPS games, Soulslikes, RPGs, and survival horror, James has intimate knowledge of a wide variety of titles, providing in-depth coverage and exclusive profiles. Some of the games they have extensively covered include: Half-Life 3, Counter-Strike, Elden Ring, and Fallout. They pride themselves on their consistently thorough research, leveraging nearly a decade of industry experience. You can reach them at James.t@thegamer.com The whole Soulslike pause button debate is a bit silly. You aren't better at the game because you have to stay glued to the screen, even if the doorbell rings. It's annoying being in the throes of a difficult boss fight, on the cusp of winning, only for something in the real world to interrupt you without being able to press the escape key like you can in pretty much every other single-player game ever made. Sure, there are invasions and other online mechanics to consider, but you can pause Elden Ring by opening the 'menu explanation' tutorial so… the functionality exists. Still, purists insist it goes against the Souls ethos, and so adults with lives outside of the game are shrugged off. Thankfully, Mortal Shell 2 ignored the noise. "For The Love Of God, Normalize This In Soulslike Games" Selfishly, I enjoy the feature for little things like the Uber Eats delivery arriving at the door. I don't want to throw away all my progress for a McDonald's, but I also don't want to leave the delivery driver hanging. Reddit user CreepyTeddyBear has a much more valuable reason to care about the pause button. "As a dad, one of my favorite things about MS2 is that you can actually PAUSE the game," they explained. "Don't see this really being praised, but it's been coming in really handy while potty training." "Fellow dad and full time worker here... Yesssss for the love of god, normalize this in souls like games, the pause menu has saved me soooo many headaches," chimed in Signal_Map7. When you look through old forums debating the idea of a pause button, Souls fans usually say that adding one would break the immersion and that it could be exploited to study enemy moves and examine your surroundings (a pause button could also, y'know, black out the screen — but whatever). Others throw out the usual 'git gud' as though it's a skill issue not being able to beat the Dancer while my cat throws up all over the carpet. Sorry, I'll just turn into Mr Fantastic and grow an extra pair of hands so I can stretch over and clean it up mid-fight. Like I said, silly argument. None of it really holds water, but since Demon's Souls lacked a pause button, and Dark Souls lacked a pause button, all Soulslike games must lack a pause button. Even though plenty of other industry standard features have been added over the years, like a dedicated jump button or being able to fast travel from the start (that one I'm not so keen on, but that's another debate for another article). Mortal Shell 2 isn't revolutionary for having a pause button, Nioh 3 and Sekiro did too, but it's yet another example of why the argument is nonsensical. The game isn't easier because you can answer the phone mid-fight or grab a drink without worrying about your progress. It's just more convenient. Soulslikes are meant to be grueling challenges, sure, but that doesn't mean they need to be so intensive that you can't even take a toilet break. Released August 20, 2026 ESRB Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes Developer(s) Cold Symmetry Publisher(s) Playstack Genre(s) Soulslike, Action RPG, Fantasy