Mafia III

So, I’m currently midway through a playthrough of 3, and it hasn’t escaped my attention that this is by far the most controversial title in the series. It’s got a solid following, an assload of memes, and as best I can tell sold pretty well. But that doesn’t prevent a large swath of fans from treating it like apocrypha. And to an extent I get why. So to start things off I’ll give my own personal list of pros and cons compared to the rest of the series (Also just to be clear this ain’t a call out of any kind, I’m eager to hear perspectives).

Pros:

Best police system of the series. With witnesses calling the cops that you can stop, and the search zone function, this feels like a title home run to me.

Best stealth in the series. Maybe it’s a bit overpowered, the way enemies react to the whistle with only one ever approaching is a little silly, but whenever I tried to stealth in 1 and 2 I always felt like I got detected by bullshit, so, flawed is better then bad in my book.

Best driving in the series. This seems a little more controversial, but it feels smoother and easier to control to me.

Great characters and setting. The historic roots, from Roosevelt addresses in 1 to gasoline ration vouchers in 2 were always some of my favorite parts of this series. And boy do they double down on these in 3. From the deeper dive into racism in the era, to the ongoing Nixon-Humphrey discourse on the radio, to coverage of national race riots, to the whole Remy Duval thing, I love it. Add in star characters like Donovan and Vito, and it’s got a cast I have a lot of fun with too.

Cons

It ain’t a mafia story. Where past games have heavily focused on Italian mafia families dealing with one another while other groups are secondary, this one flips the script. The main Italian mob presence is the primary enemy faction (I don’t count Vito’s crew as they have no ethnic requirement and aren’t accepted as a family by the commission), who sometimes is represented by complete outsiders, like the Dixie Mafia. Instead it focuses more on racial issues and general crime. The story it does tell is great imo, but I do wish the mafia groups this series was based on played a bigger role.

Too open ended. Some freedom and world objectives are great to have to expand a game and make the world feel more full, but uh… “kill three guys to blow up some construction supplies and make a number go down 5%” isn’t exactly my idea of fun, and I’m sure it’s not most of yours either. Likewise, the actual racket locations, A, you often have to do twice (though sometimes at least with some variation, like the crane you knock over at the construction site in downtown), and B, are just killing a ton of guys, again. TLDR of this point, I want more than just the final mission of each area to be close ended and designed like an actual mission instead of just a place to clear.

Progression systems are TOO essential. You have to manually travel to Sammy’s to stash your money until you recruit Vito. You can’t get a car delivered in a game with no classic garage until you recruit Burke. You have to manually collect kickbacks from three different places all over the map until you get Vito’s earn to $140k. It feels like basic QoL features are locked behind milestones that can take 10+ hours to achieve, which is plain annoying.

You don’t feel like the boss. In cutscenes Lincoln tears shit up, forces people who hate each other to get along with a combination of hope and fear, and it’s awesome. Then the game resumes, and you get sent from their hq, with ~40 people, to go on some insane mission solo, which I personally always wind up doing stealth. If only I had three full gangs worth of muscle behind me, huh? This only gets worse when you’re staring at a gun you can’t afford after you just did a side mission to expand your damn international weapons smuggling operation. You also have no personal HQ or personal gang to hold these other groups in line, which just feels silly. The net result is that I don’t feel like the boss during the actual game, at any point, which is unfortunate to see. I wish you could bring along companions, lay ambushes with a group of your men, get yourself a personal HQ and a personal gang to keep the underbosses in line, and requisition more dramatic things the way enemy gangs are able to do.

As I was taking down the Drug Racket in Mafia III I just so happened to stumble on an enemy gangster’s fat stack of cash 💰 😁👐💯💯💯

Father James is the only positive male role model in Lincoln Clay’s life Father James looks at Lincoln as a son just like Sammy Robinson sees Clay as a son 😌🤲

Ellis Robinson is the only son of Sammy Robinson and is a member of the Black Mob Ellis is much of a brother to Lincoln Clay and the two were always cracking jokes together Ellis Robinson was killed a gangster named Richie Doucet who was a leader of the Dixie Mafia RIP 🪦 ⚰️ 💐 to Ellis Robinson 🤲🩷💕💯💯💯

It truly breaks my heart 💔 that Sal Marcano is a racist man and here I thought he was a legitimate business man who was willing to work with Sammy and Ellis Robinson as well as Lincoln Clay the Black Mob

I know the rackets in Mafia 3 are repetitive and pretty much the same with different names but were any of them particularly fun for you? My favorites are:

1: Southern Union: I get to kill the Klan.

2. Construction: You get to knock a crane over.

3. Sex/Prostitution: Because I hate human trafficking.

While the racket system in Mafia 3 was repetitive and tedious, I find a secret genius beneath them. They're all connected in some way like Smuggling brings in the goods, Contraband stores them, then they get sent to the Black Market.

Also the rackets fits each underbosses personalities:

Ex. Roman Barbieri is the head enforcer so his rackets are simple yet effective and involve strong arming people. Moonshine and Protection.

Ex. Tony Derazio is the accountant, psychotic yet sophisticated, so his rackets are more white collar. Blackmail and Construction.

Ex. Lou Marcano is a people person so his rackets involve getting people what they want. Sex and Drugs.

Ex. Tommy Marcano prefers to keep a low profile so his rackets are more low key. Black Market and Gambling

His age is never revealed, but assuming he joined the army as 18 years old and served seemingly in 1944 and 1945. He’d be around 89 or 90 in 2016 when the documentary about Lincoln Clay are being filmed. He’s then 41 or 42 during 1968, he would then be born in 1926 or 1927.

2016 - 90 = 1926

1926 + 18 = 1944.

1968 - 1944 = 24.

18 + 24 = 42

Remember it’s only an assumption, but it kinda stands correct time wise .

The Mafia series is, in many ways, a more organised version of GTA. That's less a comment on gameplay or structure and more a reference to the Mafia-based crime syndicates themselves. The games have done well, but the third really deserves more of the spotlight. Mafia III has you playing a Vietnam veteran named Lincoln Clay, who lives in the fictional city of New Bordeaux. He's forced to return to a life of crime after he and his adoptive family are brought into a conflict with the local Mafia. You control Lincoln as he seeks revenge against the organisation and builds his own criminal empire. While the game is far from perfect, it brings a lot of elements together to complete a beautiful picture. The story is fantastic with some unique documentary-style cutscenes, plus the character development for Lincoln is solid, especially in the explorations of racism across 1960s America. Additionally, the combat is, while sometimes repetitive, satisfying as hell, especially for those brutal finishers. The game didn't score great reviews, thanks to a lack of technical finesse, but its awesome campaign will leave you satisfied.

So I'm re-playing Mafia 3 DE and when I get to the part where I escape through the sewers to escape the cops during the beginning bank heist, I did skip and watch the cutscene but when the cutscene is over I die and restarts from the cutscene. Did I do anything or should I do anything?

During the mission “certainly was exciting” when you get to the bar, and you don't try to shoot the bodyguards, when you die the game will soft lock you, and the only way to get out of that soft lock is to wait until the man who beats you puts you into the corner of the room where you entered. I just waited over nine hours to abort the mission.

Also, you can't kill the man beating you unless you put the wine on the counter, which shouldn't be considered since by the time the game gets out of the loading screen you are already almost dead from the man beating you.

Most Terrible Reality News mistaking I bought the Mafia Trilogy Definitive Edition while on sale only to find out over a year later that it was instead the worst one solely Mafia III Definitive Edition

Which district is most appealing to you whether it was your favorite to conquer or your favorite just because of looks

I want to know: is it possible to see all 3 underbosses endings if you keep replaying the final mission, or will it stick to only one of them?