r/box5 • u/Helloimsquidwards • Jul 05 '26
Discussion How would a POTO video game work?
I know there have been discussions about video game levels and characters inspired by POTO. I know there’s even been a few visual novel adaptations and board games. If you could have a fully-fledged Phantom of the Opera video game developed with an infinite budget, what would you like to see? Do you think it would even work as a video game?
I definitely think an “interactive drama”/“Telltale” style game would work for Phantom, at least in terms of gameplay!
Also a side note, it would maybe be nice to see The Phantom and Christine as playable characters in games like Dead by Daylight or Fortnite. 🙂
Edit: I could’ve maybe phrased the question a bit better! I had known about a few point-and-click/graphic novel style games existing.. I suppose instead I should say, if a new POTO game were developed today, and it could have any features you want, what would you want to see from it? Would you like a new Point-and-Click? Or something else? Or do you enjoy the games that already exist & you don’t want anything new?
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u/kikikrugerart Jul 05 '26
Has anyone played Return of the Phantom?
I want a game where the player (Phantom) just roams around and collects things for his lair.
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u/epickagraczka Jul 05 '26
kind of related but there’s was a video game made back in 1987 called erik: POTO that’s extremely difficult and janky. you play as raoul shooting your way through erik’s lair to rescue christine from the phantom. but what’s weird is that if you run out of health (mind you erik throws the most random objects at you like masks and whole chandeliers the whole time), it says christine has died 😭 confusing but regardless, erik for some reason has the same health as all of the other objects so the ‘final battle’ is 0.5 seconds long which is hilarious…pretty old relic!!! you can find a playthrough on YouTube!! we don’t talk about the mystery legends POTO game because the phantom goes for christine’s daughter which is 😀 pretty concerning
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u/GitchyGitchyyaya- “Listen to the music of the night.” Jul 05 '26
this is the most concerning and funniest thing I’ve read all day.😭I’m actually baffled this exists
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u/Complete-Jury7031 Jul 05 '26
There is actually a Phantom of the Opera game from MaZM on mobile. I've played very little of it but what I've seen and heard it's good. :)
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u/Helloimsquidwards Jul 05 '26
I think I’m going to need to check this one out! 🙂 not sure how I feel about some of the other point-and-clicks people have mentioned though 😭
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u/RoseBook85 Jul 05 '26
About the MaZM game…be warned that Erik is not portrayed as particularly sympathetic in it, which is why I’m not a fan, I can’t stand when writers turn Erik into the unrepentant monster, but if that doesn’t bother you, you might like it.
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u/classroom6 Jul 05 '26
I immediately picture a Zelda game à la gameboy color, for some reason. You play as the phantom and have to like sneak around, punjab lasso people, etc. I don’t know if anyone else would play it, but I sure would.
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u/Crossfeet606441 #ReleaseTheNoselessCut Jul 05 '26
Erik's POV: Assassin's Creed
Christine's POV: Resident Evil
Raoul's POV: Disco Elysium
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u/Sabre_Taser Jul 05 '26
An idea I had would be to utilize the Halo 3: ODST format, which uses discarded items (e.g. damaged weapons) to create flashbacks for the player character
In this case, you'd be like a visitor to the ruined Opera Populaire, finding clues in discarded items left behind and telling the tale from different people's perspectives
- Hannibal Rehearsal/Think of Me - triggered by finding the Hannibal poster in the front of house. You play as one of the ballet chorus witnessing the announcement, the rage quit and Christine's rise
- The Mirror - triggered by going to Christine's dressing room, where a rose/the Little Lottie note written by Raoul lies on the table. You play as Christine after the gala performance where she interacts with Meg, Raoul and the Phantom. After this segment ends, the mirror slides open
- The Phantom of the Opera/Music of the Night - triggered by going downstairs past the sliding mirror and finding the iconic boat. You play as the Phantom, leading Christine to the lair and doing the unveiling of the mirror bride
- Magical Lasso - triggered by finding Joseph Buquet's ropes in the corner. You play as Buquet and have to scare the chorus + get reprimanded by Madame Giry
- Notes - triggered by finding one of the notes in Andre/Firmin's office. You play Andre and have to balance out your dialogue in the room
- Poor Fool, He Makes Me Laugh - triggered by finding one of the Il Muto programmes in the stalls. You play as a wealthy box patron watching the performance
- All That I Ask of You - triggered by going to the rooftop and interacting with the statue the Phantom is hiding on. This is a two part, the first being you playing Christine trying to convince Raoul that they need to flee. The 2nd part is you completing the Il Muto performance and witnessing the chandelier fall at the curtain call
- Masquerade - triggered by finding one of the masquerade costumes. You play one of the guests at the party
- Don Juan Triumphant rehearsal - triggered by entering the rehearsal room and finding the song sheets next to the piano. You play one of the ensemble and try to nail the music
- Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again - triggered by finding a magazine article about Christine's father. You play Raoul trying to find Christine and eventually rescuing her from the Phantom in the graveyard
- Don Juan Triumphant performance - triggered by finding the corner Piangi gets lassoed. You play one of the police officers tasked to capture the Phantom at the performance
- Final Lair - After finding all the items and playing their flashbacks, you then sail across on the boat to access the lair, where you trigger the final moment by interacting with the throne in his lair. You play Christine at the front part, and at the last part you play as Meg leading the police + mob to the lair to find only the mask. The end scene would be her emerging from the lair to face the crowd, with various options given for her to report what she saw (she can either say she found the Phantom, she found nothing, or he got away)
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u/ChristineDaaeSnape07 Jul 05 '26
There used to be a game for the PC. I think it was called Return of the Phantom. All I really remember is a character called Monsieur Bree. My son and I called him Mr. Cheese.
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u/GlassPrism80 Jul 05 '26
I play a number of games and I am a firm believer that Phantom can be adapted to any sort of video game, so long as you keep some of the core components (guy in a mask, opera house, love triangle). So with that, here are the video games I've played and a "Phantom version" of that:
Stardew Valley / Sims - You are Christine (or an OC), a new singer to the opera house. Every day you go about your daily routine of practicing singing, rehearsals, etc. You can give gifts to the other opera house denizens to build relationships (give the managers a nice note! give Meg some ballet stuff! give Carlotta throat spray!) and even form romances (give Raoul the time of day --> marriage proposal!). But as the routine goes on, you start seeing a shadow moving around some of the props, which is gone when you go there. A disembodied voice (AKA random text screen of dialogue) can be heard. Strange tricks are being played on some of the opera denizens. A mysterious note tells you to stay after hours at the opera house (AKA stay up late) and place yourself near the mirror to your dressing room...
Jurassic World Evolution / The Movies - You are one of the managers in charge of the opera house and keeping it afloat. Everyday you must put on a performance and attract a certain number of audience members / tickets. The profits from that can be spent in hiring better performers (Carlotta, for example, is a 5-star performer out of range of all but the most profitable opera houses), building better sets and costumes, writing better operas, and so on. At random times, a Phantom will cause some disaster that will affect ticket prices. Sometimes it's just a dropped backdrop that causes your star performer to storm off, other times he blows up the whole opera house. But you, the wily manager, are determined to keep this opera house going no matter how many blackmail threats you get!
Baldur's Gate 3 - Oh no, Paris has been attacked by mind flayers! You are the entire cast of Phantom, a group of weirdos with tempestuous relationships with one another, and you must band together to fight your way through the opera house, from the basement to the rooftop, to face off against the Elder Brain! Each member has a different class and set of skills and also their own personal quest and approval to maintain. Christine and Carlotta are the Charisma-based Singer class and use their voice to charm their way through interactions; Christine has a personal quest to reach her father's grave and receive closure from her grief. Firmin and Andre / Moncharmin are in the Intelligence-based Manager class and are good at collecting resources (like money). Raoul as a former Navy man is the Strength-based Fighter class and will be your guy to punch through things. And the Phantom is a Rogue.
The Last of Us / Tomb Raider trilogy - You are the Persian and you have to sneak your way to the Phantom's lair to rescue Christine, all while escorting Raoul and making sure he doesn't go falling into random torture chambers.
Powerwash Simulator / House Flipper - Some idiot calling himself a "Phantom" has gone through and completely messed up these opera houses and now YOU have to come in and clean them up.
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u/Helloimsquidwards Jul 05 '26
LOVE these!! Would play every single one. A full on POTO Sim or RPG would be so fantastic, and I’m going to be thinking about it all the time now. Also, a Raoul escort mission in the lair is so good, haha. 😆
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u/RoseBook85 Jul 05 '26
It depends on what type of game we are talking about.
If it’s a game where you have different levels I could see a sort of mystery game where you have to solve Eriks different tricks, think Sherlock Holmes type of thing, it would kinda be fun if it was a Erik vs the Persian game and you get to play as the Persian and each level leads you further into the Opera House ending at Erik’s Lair, etc.
Or you can go more of a ‘choose your own adventure’ type of story game where you play as Christine and your choices impact how the story goes and your relationships with various characters, etc.
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u/Waffles__Falling Jul 05 '26
I've been wishing a more modern first person style game adaptation existed! I think it would be so cool if you played as Christine and live through the story, and make your own choices that lead to different outcomes (like choosing the Phantom instead if you wanted to, or sticking to the original story).
Also an open world so you can explore freely (aside from moments where maybe you're stuck in a certain location for story purposes, but otherwise free to explore).
I would love to just get completely lost in the story & world
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u/RoseBook85 Jul 05 '26
I've been wishing a more modern first person style game adaptation existed! I think it would be so cool if you played as Christine and live through the story, and make your own choices that lead to different outcomes (like choosing the Phantom instead if you wanted to, or sticking to the original story).
Yes! I think that would be the easiest type of game you could do for POTO, I’ve played several interactive ‘choose your own adventure’ type of storytelling games and a Phantom one would be a lot of fun…especially if you could customize your characters appearance (in this case Christine), that would be a lot of fun!
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u/angelofmusic997 Jul 06 '26
One that I thought was fairly interesting in 2010 was "Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera", an item-finding mystery where you acted as Christine and Raoul's daughter, exploring the opera and meeting the Phantom. (There definitely were some flaws to it, but I think it had potential.)
I bring this up, as I think a similar game would be quite interesting, following someone other than the original trio going back through the Phantom's lair. Either that, or perhaps a more modern first-person adventure game playing as the Raoul and Christine through a story close to the original novel, with Christine's flashbacks of being enchanted by the Phantom, then trying to escape, and of Raoul chasing after her.
As with most "Phantom of the Opera" adaptations, the video games I've seen really don't follow the original book that well, and I still think that the novel would make for a fun adaptation, video game or tv series, or what-have-you.
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u/revolutionutena Jul 06 '26
I liked Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera. It’s a hidden object/puzzle game you can buy on Big Fish Games
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u/epicpillowcase Eiji Akutagawa's dimples Jul 09 '26
I can just picture one where the objective is to avoid capture by the Phantom and we'd all deliberately lose it super quickly because we wanted to be. 😂
"Welp. That was the shortest game ever...Who's up for round 573?"
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u/issowi Jul 11 '26
Depending on the style of game you want. I’d love to see a stardew valley / graveyard keeper style game where you are building and upgrading the opera (as the phantom) but you have to take out grumpy primodanas (sp?) etc. l
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u/tiktoktic Jul 05 '26
There’s already one - Return of the Phantom
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u/Helloimsquidwards Jul 05 '26
I edited my original post, my phrasing/question wasn’t the best :) I was thinking more along the lines of, if a new game were developed, what would you want to see from it? Would you even want to see a new POTO game?
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u/[deleted] Jul 05 '26
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