MazM: The Phantom of the Opera

he presentation does a marvelous job at transporting the players to the novel's settings, and at certain moments the game can feel more like a visual novel rather than a puzzle-adventure game. Some of the elements could use an improvement when it comes to adapting the game to a home console format, though, and sometimes the gameplay interruptions become too frequent.

The combination of an atmospheric musical score, eye-pleasing graphics, remaining true to the original novel and adding well timed humour and melodrama, makes MazM: The Phantom of the Opera a captivating puzzle adventure on Nintendo Switch. The ability to play it in handheld mode or on the TV makes it even easier to continue playing the at times nail-bitingly tense thriller, which is hard to put down once started.

In MazM: The Phantom of the Opera, you get to experience being one of the casts of the original literature and the ever popular stage performance of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’. The game is full of rich ‘musical’ contents to keep you entertained while progressing through the storyline. While there are numerous historical experiences to go through, some of the elements such as loading between screens may interrupt some of the mood while on the lookout for clues. Extra nitpicks would include the intention of the UI, which was originally designed to be mobile platform focused so the console experience may not be at its best form.

My initial impressions were very good. MazM: The Phantom of the Opera has cute sprites, a good atmosphere and art, and is downright creepy at parts. However, I cannot render any sort of final verdict (or much of a review) as I was unable to get far in the story. I will update this should I hear back from the developer. I hope I do because I was very intrigued by this game until I couldn’t go any further!

MazM: The Phantom of the Opera is what I would like to see more of in video games; it's a genuine effort to engage with a more meaningful side of art. It's less pop culture, easy content as it is an adaptation of a masterpiece of the gothic literature genre. The developer succeeded in capturing the aesthetics and generally representing the story, but there have been some big compromises made to hammer this nail into place, and the gamey elements and technical proficiency are just not there. Not for the Switch version, at any rate. As a Phantom of the Opera fan, I do highly recommend like-minded fans check this out, as it is a curiosity, but if you're going into this looking for a game... you'd be better off picking up a copy of the film adaptation of the musical.

Mazm: The Phantom Of The Opera is an extremely good adaptation that turns the classic novel into an enjoyable adventure game, and updates it for the modern audience. It faithfully recreates what the original story did well and improves upon what didn’t stick as much. Whether you’ve only heard the name of the story or you’ve seen multiple variations of the tale, you’re sure to get something out of this title, despite the strange lag.

Ultimately, MazM: The Phantom of the Opera is worth playing, but not on Nintendo Switch. It would be a pleasant way to experience a classic novel, but unfortunately it's couched in an experience that does not translate well to the platform.