After seeing Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure, I've never felt more ready for Shadow of the Erdtree

The visuals and sound design of Elden Ring are incredible. But it’s hard to appreciate them when you’re dodging for your life, heart pounding as you search for a small opening into which your sweaty index finger can spam R1. If only there was a way to sit back and immerse yourself in the game’s grand orchestral score and epic boss fights, without the looming threat of death.

Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure couldn’t have arrived in London at a better time. The orchestral performance took place on April 28, less than two months before Shadow of the Erdtree arrived in June. You could feel a palpable sense of anticipation for the DLC in the air. The concert provided a perfect overview of the game so far, moving from major boss to major boss with snippets of… ahem, lands between. It was a fantastic recap and a fun alternative to rewatching the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer for the 1000th time, and it only made me more excited for what was to come in the expansion.

Boss fights

Elden Ring Symphony Adventure — (Image credit: Serena Cherry)

Seeing scenes from a game you’ve spent 200 hours on condensed into a 2-hour concert is an impactful experience. The smooth pacing of the series made the action scenes completely relentless. It was almost like watching a different game than the one I played. There was no image of me wandering around the catacombs collecting all the Grave Glovewort I could get my hands on. No images of me getting lost in the Round Table. And most importantly, the words “YOU ARE DEAD” did not appear once on the giant screen. Not even during Waterfowl Dance in a tense rendition of Malenia’s theme.

“Is this what it feels like to be an asshole?” I thought, soaking in the grandeur of Godfrey’s choral arrangement as the player character effortlessly dodged the blows of his axe. They made it so simple and the custom camera angles made it so cool.

Experiencing a Soulsborne game as a passive spectator was a treat. With all of the difficult aspects of gameplay removed, it was nice to be absorbed in something other than the game’s combat. The violins reached a frenzied crescendo as Red Wolf of Radagon writhed on screen with a blade in his hand. mouth, and only then did I remember exactly why I love Elden Ring. It’s a big, dark, beautiful world, full of big, dark, brutal bosses. My passion for the game was reignited by the orchestral performance, it was a perfect entry to whet my appetite for Shadow of the Erdtree.

Cultural phenomenon

Ancient Ring

(Image credit: FromSoftware)

I imagine audience members about to play Elden Ring again to prepare for the DLC left the concert extremely motivated, probably firing up their Steam Decks on the journey home. For those currently replaying, like me, I came away with a plethora of building ideas and new ways to dodge that will surely help defeat the essential DLC gateway boss: Mohg Lord of Blood.

My thoughts then turned to the plus one present. Presumably there were a few people in the audience who had never played the game, people accompanying a friend, people on a date. I wondered what they thought of this little pocket of Soulsborne fandom. Then I saw the words “Elden Ring” in bold letters on the venue’s poster, so comfortably among the names of mainstream pop artists and it struck me: Elden Ring is not niche. The sold-out success of Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure at the Royal Albert Hall is the mark of a cultural phenomenon. Even those unfamiliar with the game will appreciate its scale after this experience.

Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, this is a truly prestigious orchestra for prestigious playing. While the soundtrack itself clashes with catchy choruses, Yuka Kitamura’s soundscapes use dissonance to build tension and drama effectively. Hearing the dark choruses of Ancestral Spirit live brought me to tears, as did Rennala’s music – a reminder that for all its bombastic splendor, there is often a sadness lurking within Elden Ring’s dark heart.

After all of the game’s possible endings had played out, I headed out of the Royal Albert Hall, flooded with memories of my time spent in the Lands Between. Hearing fans discuss their DLC theories on the train home, I smiled knowing that new memories of Elden Ring await us in the form of Shadow of the Erdtree. Boss fights we’ll be talking about for years to come. Intrigue twists and turns that require hours of video trials to understand. Messmer the Impaler and his enormous spear. Soon we will devour this new content like Rykard devouring the Gods themselves.

As we look at the Elden Ring DLC, I can’t decide which of my all-time favorite versions to put into the RPG’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion..