Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure was the perfect recap before Shadow of the Erdtree

It took me around 110 hours to finish and much of that, now, is a blur. Sure I remember some of the key beats – emerging from the catacombs into the world at the start, battles against Godrick and Rennala, the countless defeats against Malenia – but mostly the words “You Died” repeatedly on the screen. Incidentally, that was my housemate at the time’s nickname for the game, much to my shame.

Yet with Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree on the horizon, I’ve been itching to do another run to refresh my memory. Now, thanks to the Elden Ring Symphonic Adventure concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, I don’t need to. It was the perfect recap.

Performed by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra with the Crouch End Festival Chorus (and conducted by Adrián Ronda-Sampayo), this wasn’t just a selection of musical pieces from the game but a complete run from start to finish, every major boss included. It was like watching Elden Ring: The Movie accompanied by a live orchestra.

That was a smart decision. What mostly characterises the game’s soundscape is the silence, the breeze, the cries of distant enemies. The music is often sonic texture that works in sync with the gameplay, ramping up to dramatic boss themes. And that’s how it worked at this concert, the orchestra playing gentle incidental music in quieter moments crescendoing seamlessly into boss fights. Each time the player character reached a golden fog door, you knew the choir would chant, the drums would thunder, and the brass – far from tarnished – would fanfare every swish and swipe. Each new area of the game was a separate movement in an overarching symphonic suite of bloody bosses.