[SOLVED] Which MAFIA Game is the Best in this Franchise ??

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Hello, :)

Just a simple question. Which MAFIA game is the best out of all three titles released thus far ? MAFIA 1, 2 or 3 ? Are the stories interconnected ? Or can I straight away jump on 2 or 3, without playing the FIRST title in this series ?

Please do not post any story spoilers though. I heard MAFIA 3 also runs very poorly even on high-end Gaming PCs. Badly optimized Game I suppose ? Though, I heard the voice acting is good ? Thanks in advance.
 
Solution
Mafia 1 has it's own characters unrelated to the other two. Mafia 3 however has a main character and tie in from Mafia 2.

You probably aren't going to like hearing this, but each game has it's own pluses and minuses, and all are in some way worth playing depending on your preferences. There's no one easy answer since they all have different styles which cater to different tastes.

Mafia 1 is very real world oriented in that you must refill your car with fuel, and you can even be pulled over for traffic violations. When stealing cars you must use lock picking. It also has some pretty visceral battles, so you need to be aware of where enemies are and take cover.

Mafia 2 gives you some decent chases, has good story elements, and has some...

WildCard999

Titan
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I played the first and the third, can't speak for the PC version as I played both on console but they were both pretty good for the performance, story and yes the voice acting is really good. From what I remember they don't follow a particular story line so you can jump into any of them. I vaguely remember the first one but the 3rd one was really good and historically spot on for that era. There's actually a disclaimer on the 3rd game as it's not exactly politically correct.
 
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Mafia 1 has it's own characters unrelated to the other two. Mafia 3 however has a main character and tie in from Mafia 2.

You probably aren't going to like hearing this, but each game has it's own pluses and minuses, and all are in some way worth playing depending on your preferences. There's no one easy answer since they all have different styles which cater to different tastes.

Mafia 1 is very real world oriented in that you must refill your car with fuel, and you can even be pulled over for traffic violations. When stealing cars you must use lock picking. It also has some pretty visceral battles, so you need to be aware of where enemies are and take cover.

Mafia 2 gives you some decent chases, has good story elements, and has some pretty good battles with not too bad DLC, though it's arcade with no dialog. The story from the protagonist's POV though is rather downbeat, whereby he laments over his uneventful life.

Mafia 3 is the most unique in that it's not about the typical Sicily mob, but the Black mob in New Orleans. It easily has the best soundtrack with a lot of rock classics. It brings in some nice new melee moves and gunplay, and great level design, but the whistle lure system can make it too easy. By not using whistle lures, the game becomes far more interesting and less repetitive.

Mafia 3 easily has the best level design and set pieces. It also has some very enjoyable races. In case you're wondering, Mafia 3 is my fave in the series. Just don't use whistle lures much, at the very most, only on the first play through. Then again, if you're OK with a more casual play style, you may not mind being able to easily amass a pile of bodies by just whistling from cover.

You're right that Mafia 3 by default is not well optimized, but I found it's mostly due to heavy processing effects that make the game look very ugly as well. Fortunately a brilliant modder whom goes by the name NyClix, made an excellent mod that makes the game look and run much better. One of the best things about this mod is it doesn't make dark scenes look way too dark like SweetFX does. It's a bit harder to install, but well worth the results.

This is where I accessed and learned how to install the mod. It's a very funny video too. The missing audio in places is just how it was uploaded, the mod in no way affects audio in the game.

 
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Solution
Mafia 1 has it's own characters unrelated to the other two. Mafia 3 however has a main character and tie in from Mafia 2.

You probably aren't going to like hearing this, but each game has it's own pluses and minuses, and all are in some way worth playing depending on your preferences. There's no one easy answer since they all have different styles which cater to different tastes.

Mafia 1 is very real world oriented in that you must refill your car with fuel, and you can even be pulled over for traffic violations. When stealing cars you must use lock picking. It also has some pretty visceral battles, so you need to be aware of where enemies are and take cover.

Mafia 2 gives you some decent chases, has good story elements, and has some pretty good battles with not too bad DLC, but the story from the protagonist's POV is rather downbeat, whereby he laments over his uneventful life.

Mafia 3 is the most unique in that it's not about the typical Sicily mob, but the Black mob in New Orleans. It easily has the best soundtrack with a lot of rock classics. It brings in some nice new melee moves and gunplay, and great level design, but the whistle lure system can make it too easy. By not using whistle lures, the game becomes far more interesting and less repetitive.

Mafia 3 easily has the best level design and set pieces. It also has some very enjoyable races. In case you're wondering, Mafia 3 is my fave in the series. Just don't use whistle lures much, at the very most, only on the first play through. Then again, if you're OK with a more casual play style, you may not mind being able to easily amass a pile of bodies by just whistling from cover.

You're right that Mafia 3 by default is not well optimized, but I found it's mostly due to heavy processing effects that make the game look very ugly as well. Fortunately a brilliant modder whom goes by the name NyClix, made an excellent mod that makes the game look and run much better. One of the best things about this mod is it doesn't make dark scenes look way too dark like SweetFX does. It's a bit harder to install, but well worth the results.

This is where I accessed and learned how to install the mod. It's a very funny video too. The missing audio in places is just how it was uploaded, the mod in no way affects audio in the game.


Thanks for the detailed explanation. Very well put. It was really helpful. By the way, I think even Assassin's Creed series have this "whistle" feature, if I'm not mistaken ? The assassin can hide in any bush, whistle, and lure enemies as well.
 

Remeca

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I finished Mafia 1, only went about halfway in 2 and 3. The story in 1 was the best imo, and was worth finishing. I'll probably finish 2 in a while, because although the open world aspect is pretty half baked, similar to LA Noir, it made some good improvements to combat, driving and other mechanics. 3 just felt like any open world 3rd person game, and I never really got into the story.
 
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Thanks for the detailed explanation. Very well put. It was really helpful. By the way, I think even Assassin's Creed series have this "whistle" feature, if I'm not mistaken ? The assassin can hide in any bush, whistle, and lure enemies as well.
True, but keep in mind Assassin Creed games, save for maybe Syndicate, also have more open areas where it can be harder to access those hiding spots without being seen. In Mafia 3, there aren't many missions where you can't sneak to a spot or two that's easy to just stay in cover and keep luring enemies for easy take downs.

It still does have some decent challenges though, and it's not hard to get a feel for how you want to play it. There are times when hit squads come after you, and it's best to prepare by putting yourself in a defensible area, like an alleyway with choke points and exits. Otherwise it can be tough to survive.
I finished Mafia 1, only went about halfway in 2 and 3. The story in 1 was the best imo, and was worth finishing. I'll probably finish 2 in a while, because although the open world aspect is pretty half baked, similar to LA Noir, it made some good improvements to combat, driving and other mechanics. 3 just felt like any open world 3rd person game, and I never really got into the story.
I enjoyed Mafia 1 too, though many would feel the graphics are too outdated anymore. The story was good, but the real life mechanics of having to halo drive and such can get tedious.

I disagree completely on Mafia 3's story though. Of all 3, Lincoln is the only protagonist whom really has a reason to fight a war in the streets. He's fresh out of the hell of Vietnam, and gets immediately thrust into another by what is done to his family. I also felt the music and set pieces were the most evocative. Even the way he talks in some cutscenes drew me in.
 
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BTW, and this is a very big deal to many, sorry but I'd forgotten Mafia 3 has a rather annoying problem being a bug. In my experience it only happens with a couple NPCs. It's a graphics bug where black textures emanate from certain NPCs in triangular fashion. It looks a lot like your GPU is artifacting, but it's just bad coding in a few places in the game. It first happens in the soup kitchen mission near the start of the game, and kicks in as soon as one of the Haitians rushes Lincoln.

It can also happen in the small thrift stores when the owner is present.

However there is a feature in the game you can choose not to use, which has to do with wire tapping and a feature called "Intel View", whereby enemy silhouettes can be seen through walls. My last play through I didn't bother unlocking that, and I only had the bug happen in just the soup kitchen. The rest of the game played fine.

An easier way to solve the problem is right after the cutscene at the stat of the soup kitchen mission, go into Options>Display in game and set FPS to 30 before you (Lincoln) goes to the soup pot to serve. The bug doesn't happen at 30 FPS, indicating these 2 NPCs were badly coded in the PC port. It only takes a few seconds to do.

You could also before entering a thrift store do the same, which are only really useful for topping off armor. Other than the soup mission kitchen and thrift stores though the game plays fine.

[Edited]
Scratch the above, after reading more recent chat about Mafia 3, some have said the game has gotten worse with that graphics bug since the later patches. I still had the game installed so I did a check for myself. It's now glitching out in several places, including outdoors in random spots.

Looks like the PC port was never patched properly, so if you dare get it, I would only buy it on console. The problem is you can't install the mod I spoke of if you do, but on PC, it's unplayable as far as I'm concerned.
 
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I appreciate the explanation and replies. I won't mind if there are still few graphical glitches in MAFIA 3, as long as the story and the Gameplay is interesting and Immersive.
Well, mileage may vary, but if you haven't, read my edited response above. I just played it again yesterday, and it's now having this bug outdoors too in several places. The later patching actually made it worse, which is a shame, because with the latest patches came some really good races they added. If you can tolerate 30 FPS though, it won't likely glitch, but in my experience, it doesn't look or play as good at 30.
 
Some claim the GOG version with no DRM runs better, though I'm not sure. It costs the same as the Steam version too.

GOG has a refund policy, but it appears to hinge on whether you can actually play (finish) the game. At one point in this policy they say "technical problems or game-breaking bugs", but at the end they seem to come back to "if the game is still not working". I advise you ask them for specifics on this should you consider them.

"4. HOW DOES IT WORK?

"f, within 30 days after the purchase of your game, you experience technical problems or game-breaking bugs that prevent you from finishing your game, contact our customer support. They will do their best to help you fix the problem and if, at the end of their attempts to solve the problem your game is still not working, we'll give you back your money."


Source: https://support.gog.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000487189-GOG-COM-Money-Back-Guarantee-Policy
 
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Thank you so much for your replies and answers. Much appreciated. Very helpful. I will see if I can buy this Game on GOG instead.
I just got it on GOG because it's been 3 years since I've played it and they added a lot of stuff in the latest DLC I haven't played. All can be accessed via the Digital Deluxe Edition, which runs $60 instead of $40.

I wanted the best chance to play it bug free and I think I may have found it. There was no problem playing the soup kitchen mission where that bug before first appeared. I haven't played very far yet, but so far no texture glitches.

They said they improved reflections in the 1.08 patch, but it seems to me they also took away that God awful yellow tint that caused a lot of blur in either 1.08 or the 1.09 patch. Colors look good now and everything looks sharp, even without the NyClix mod.

I'm playing it on max settings at 1440p DSR on my 1080, and there's no lag to speak of too.
 
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I just got it on GOG because it's been 3 years since I've played it and they added a lot of stuff in the latest DLC I haven't played. All can be accessed via the Digital Deluxe Edition, which runs $60 instead of $40.

I wanted the best chance to play it bug free and I think I may have found it. There was no problem playing the soup kitchen mission where that bug before first appeared. I haven't played very far yet, but so far no texture glitches.

They said they improved reflections in the 1.08 patch, but it seems to me they also took away that God awful yellow tint that caused a lot of blur in either 1.08 or the 1.09 patch. Colors look good now and everything looks sharp, even without the NyClix mod.

I'm playing it on max settings at 1440p DSR on my 1080, and there's no lag to speak of too.

Oh. That's nice. Glad to hear the GOG version is not plagued by bugs and glitches. Btw, the NyClix MOD is very good. I think that's like Reshade which helps with colour correction, and blur removal...

I found one video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X62B-I4vRtw&feature=youtu.be
 
Oh. That's nice. Glad to hear the GOG version is not plagued by bugs and glitches. Btw, the NyClix MOD is very good. I think that's like Reshade which helps with colour correction, and blur removal...

I found one video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X62B-I4vRtw&feature=youtu.be
Yeah still no graphics glitches, but I had one mission briefing cutscene with no audio so far. I went into one thrift store so far and no glitch, but it was at night when the proprietor wasn't there, whom is what triggers it.

BTW, that vid you posted is done by the same guy that made the one I posted, it was uploaded a couple days prior to the one I posted. It also links you to the exact same mod as the video I posted does.

I can't stress enough that the latest version of the game (patch 1.09) looks as good as running the mod on older build versions though, so no need to install it anymore really.

That said, after playing more the colors do seem a bit more washed out than with the mod, and textures not quite as sharp. So I think I'll try installing the mod again.
 
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Just an update, I managed to install the mod, but it was harder this time. Reason being the new version of ReShade wouldn't allow it to install (at least I could see no way to). I ended up using a combination of the older version of ReShade the mod was made for to install, and new ReShade to activate it as far as I recall.

It definitely looks better now, but not by as much a margin as before due to the graphics patching they did. The DLC they added is very good to play too. The ones I like most, in order of best first, were Stones Unturned, Sign of the Times, and Faster Baby. Unfortunately Sign of the Times, which ends with options to renovate Sammy's Bar, involves a mission toward the end of it called Lil Ernie, which will not unlock for me.

I checked and many others had the same problem. I don't know if it's due to a sequence of events being done in the wrong order, a bug, or this DLC being intended to be done after finishing the game's main story (one article I read sorta hinted at that). I'm going to try it again after beating the main story though.

I kinda put the game aside when I couldn't unlock that mission, but it was also due to other games coming out, like Gears 5 (which is very good btw).
 
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