Most people have been introduced to The Phantom of the Opera through the Webber musical. So what’s one more? Though I can’t speak to the quality of any of those side works, Growing Seeds offers a visually and aurally attractive presentation of the classic story, with enough modern nuances on the narrative and its themes to justify its existence.

Obviously, this is well-worn ground aside from the essential musical, a quick check of Wikipedia reveals hundreds of books, movies, comics, etc. You take on the role of several of the story’s famed characters - including Christine, the opera singer, and Raoul, her wealthy, confused suitor - as they try to survive the titular Phantom, who terrorized the Paris Opera House in the late 19 th century. In this lightly interactive, point-and-click visual novel, you explore your surroundings, talk to characters, and inspect items, but there aren’t any puzzles to solve. The Phantom of the Opera is, as you might have guessed, an adaptation of the Gaston Leroux book by the same name. While I’m still left waiting for the “Music of the Night” rhythm minigame I was hoping for, I did get to delve into the century-old story’s gothic stylings, with a stronger emphasis on horror than I was used to. But South Korean developer Growing Seeds’ version of the classic story is instead based on the early 1900s novel, not the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

I was all set to write that MazM: The Phantom of the Opera would be the first game I’ve played based on a theater production I’ve seen.

Phantom of the opera book korean