• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Mafia 3 |OT| "Family isn't who you're born with, it's who you die for"

Tainted

Member
I really enjoyed the DLC. It is just a shame you are kinda forced into ploughing through the main game to raise cash for the bar renovation and herb growing missions/activities though.

Yeh I agree...it was a poor design choice. The herbalism is a great source of income, but you won't have access to that until after the 1st DLC, which at that point, you wouldn't have enough cash to make a dent on Sammy's repair bills (unless you were grinding the truck/car delivery side missions during your 1st playthrough)

For the majority of players it means a forced grind at the end of the 3rd DLC. As i mentioned earlier, I just left my PC running to get the required cash doing the herbalism and checking in every 15mins or so to collect the cash (remoting onto home pc from work ftw)...but alot of ppl wont be in a position to do that or feel assed...so I feel many will skip the repair at the end.
 
Just got to the point where all the DLC got unlocked. Should I finish the base game first or just play them whenever?

Sign Of The Times (the newest DLC) ends with a..... project of sorts that you need to put quite a bit of money into. I'm not saying rush to get to that, but it's something I wish I had access to WAY WAY earlier in the campaign when I was still playing and making money consistently.

And don't you forget to grow your weed, leng jai. Papy needs his medication.
 

Cheever

Member
Just got to the point where all the DLC got unlocked. Should I finish the base game first or just play them whenever?

I'd suggest this order after you have your first Sitdown...


  • Enjoy some Racing and Car Customization
  • Take over Downtown
  • DLC3 "Sign of the Times"
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Start rebuilding Sammy's Club
  • Take over Barclay Mills
  • Take over Tickfaw Harbor (involves items coming from Cuba)
  • DLC 2 "Stones Unturned" (go to an island near Cuba)
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Try the Bounty Hunter activity
  • Take over Frisco Fields
  • DLC 1 "Faster Baby" (after Remy's story arc in Frisco Fields)
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Start your Grow House activity
  • Take over Southdowns
  • Take over French Ward (dealing with loveable Lou… the tipping point for Sal)
  • Finish the rest of the main story

The only downside to this narratively driven order is your Grow House is started later in the game. If you want to start that earlier, then swap DLC 2 for DLC 1's order. Doing DLC3 first will let you enjoy Sammy's Club for more of the game.

Spreading the DLC out as your take over Districts will help minimize the repetition. Plus it sprinkles in new cool DLC goodies as you take over Districts.
 

Oynox

Member
I'd suggest this order after you have your first Sitdown...


  • Enjoy some Racing and Car Customization
  • Take over Downtown
  • DLC3 "Sign of the Times"
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Start rebuilding Sammy's Club
  • Take over Barclay Mills
  • Take over Tickfaw Harbor (involves items coming from Cuba)
  • DLC 2 "Stones Unturned" (go to an island near Cuba)
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Try the Bounty Hunter activity
  • Take over Frisco Fields
  • DLC 1 "Faster Baby" (after Remy's story arc in Frisco Fields)
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Start your Grow House activity
  • Take over Southdowns
  • Take over French Ward (dealing with loveable Lou… the tipping point for Sal)
  • Finish the rest of the main story

The only downside to this narratively driven order is your Grow House is started later in the game. If you want to start that earlier, then swap DLC 2 for DLC 1's order. Doing DLC3 first will let you enjoy Sammy's Club for more of the game.

Spreading the DLC out as your take over Districts will help minimize the repetition. Plus it sprinkles in new cool DLC goodies as you take over Districts.

That is a great list! I would rather switch DLC 2 and 3 to avoid the above mentioned grinding but I will definitely keep this in mind when starting my second playthrough.
 

dedhead54

Member
I just bought the season pass the other day and started playing Faster, Baby! I am really enjoying it so far and I'm impressed with how good the game looks on my PS4 Pro/ks8000. I played the main story on regular PS4 and a 2014 1080p Samsung set. It definitely benefits from the resolution bump.

It feels really good playing this game again, though. I hate that the main story missions are so repetitive because the game does so much right. Holy shit does the gunplay feel incredible for a third person open world game. I love the studder step animation Lincoln does after releasing L2 after having just popped a dude right in the head and moving to cover or something. And the voice acting is so good. I had also forgotten how great the driving feels with the simulation setting. It's really just a lot of fun to play IMO and the setting and music are solid. Can't wait to finish all the DLC now.

Hanger 13, thank you.
 

Cheever

Member
That is a great list! I would rather switch DLC 2 and 3 to avoid the above mentioned grinding but I will definitely keep this in mind when starting my second playthrough.

Yeah I'm leaning towards that too. The reason I originally thought of doing DLC 1 last was because it was the largest new terrain opened and it sort of suggests the conflict happens after you deal with Remy in Frisco Fields. Minor issues though... I think I'll edit my list to say DLC 1 then 2 :)


***ALTERNATE UPDATE***
This returns it back the original DLC order. It let's you start your Grow House early, so you can have money for Sammy's later in the game. DLC 3 is between the last 3 Districts to help break up the District repetition near the end of the game. Narratively you could say Lincoln shifts his focus to rebuilding Sammy's that late because he can see the end is in sight for Sal.

Personally, I wouldn't have kept the DLC bonus activities locked until the end of the DLC storylines. For example once you meet MJ in DLC 1, there's an option to open the Grow Houses*. Then you could introduce the DLC storylines early and spread their completion across the whole main storyline. Reserving DLC 1's new chunk of land would've been nice to delay and give you something new to explore later in the game as well as suggestion Roxy's a new relationship after the end of the game instead of simply disappearing from Lincoln's life.



  • Take over Barclay Mills (try your first non-specific Lieutenant district)
  • Enjoy some Racing and Car Customization

  • Take over Downtown
  • DLC 1 "Faster Baby"
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Start your Grow House activity

  • Take over Tickfaw Harbor (involves items coming from Cuba)
  • DLC 2 "Stones Unturned" (go to an island near Cuba)
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Try the Bounty Hunter activity

  • Take over Southdowns
  • DLC3 "Sign of the Times"
  • *unlocks some cars, weapons, and costumes
  • Start rebuilding Sammy's Club
  • Take over Frisco Fields
  • Take over French Ward (dealing with loveable Lou in the Bayou… the tipping point for Sal)

  • Finish the rest of the main story


*Did you find all the other closed off Grow Houses in each District?
 

Vintage

Member

Thanks for the plan, I just started playing the game, definitely bookmarking and following this!

In addition, I installed NoFuckingGrindMod to reduce the grinding through enemy bases, now it only takes one to proceed with the boss. I'm just a bit worried that skipping grind will also skip money and I'll be low on it later in the game.

I'm a few hours in. So far, I'm just LOVING it. The whole intro, until the event, is just amazing. Characters, story, pacing, storytelling style, the whole presentation is so perfect - it's been long since I've been so captivated by the game. Can't wait to go home and play more. All other parts like gunplay, sound, music, etc. are pretty good, while they don't stand out in todays market, they are all more than passable and never stand in the way of having fun.

The best of all, I love how it feels natural and not overdone. Characters, their motivations, interactions all feel genuine, not exaggerated. So far, it has surprisingly little amount of cliches and while there are obvious good and bad guys, they're not generically bad, but bad with their motivations and view of life.

There's obviously a pretty big number of glitches, rough edges and some performance drops, but these never ruin the experience in any major way.
 
cross-posted from another thread:

okay, it's official: hangar 13 are the greatest! :) ...

it was only once i'd entered post-game all those months back that i realized i'd missed a vargas painting in the casino. well, turns out that, in post-game, you can no longer enter the office in the casino. went online, found out that this'd happened to others, & that we were all pretty much screwed...

well, here i am, months later, just starting in on the dlc, now that it's all been released, but, before i get going, just for the hell of it, i decide to drop by the casino. &, while you still can't get into that office, what do i see lying on the bar in front of the office entrance, but - the friggin' vargas painting!...

hangar 13! salud! :) ...
 
Okay, finally finished the last DLC (the story part at least).
Now I'm going to play the whole game with the new gameplay mechanics.

I liked this one, it was very different from the rest of the game. It's not the best scenes from the whole game, but some story parts were really dark and original. Hangar 13 are the best at interior designs.
The story was pretty good. Not the most memorable and the mystery unfolding was okay but expected. Although the death of Anna really took me by surprise. That was a great character for Lincoln to meet although I wish there were more of scenes with her.

Now let's get all the trophies and wait for the sequel.
 

pakkit

Banned
I really enjoy this game. The gunplay is satisfying even if the AI is pure drivel. Combined with the overpowered stealth, it makes this game almost relaxing to play through. The additional perks and secondary attacks afforded by the DLC allow you to make what you want of each scenario, and, even on Hard, the difficulty is lax enough that you can make of it what you will.

The car handling is, for my money, the best in an open world game. I think it's because Hangar 13 put a lot of care into making sure the car sounds and the controller vibration convey a lot of the information to the player.

And the gameworld is what keeps me coming back. It doesn't ever escape situations that make it feel "gamey," e.g. when the NPCs all scatter as soon as violence breaks out, but the enemies don't get notified. And the lack of AI in general is where Rockstar's level of polish is most missed. But Hangar 13 did a lot that I really do appreciate, such as the incredible radio shows (seriously worth listening to all of them), the really interesting Playboy articles (the interviews are outstanding and generally tie in to Mafia III's themes), and the insane amount of extra dialogue. It seems that a lot of the NPCs and quest givers have an absolutely absurd amount of dialogue. It's a shame that you often just have to stand there mashing X to hear them all, but it really does flesh out the world, the characters, and their stories.

Mostly, it makes me hopeful for whatever is next to come from Hangar 13. If they have more time and more manpower, they can bring the necessary depths to the mechanics so that they can have a game that can support the impressive narrative, dialogue, and world-building they clearly have the knack for.
 

Cheever

Member
What's one way to play Mafia 3 with all the DLC and free updates? Here are my suggestions we talked about earlier here! Plus some new map images -- hopefully hi-rez ones will appear soon. Then you spot a few more notes by Lincoln as well some items written on the map by Donovan.

https://mafiagame.com/en/news/view/story-strategy-guide-for-mafia-iii

Mafia_BlogMap_v2.jpg


MafiaIII_map_printed_small.jpg
 

pakkit

Banned
I actually bought this game at the beginning of the year, but I took a break maybe 20 hours in to wait for all the DLC to come out, and I'm glad I did. They make small but important tweaks to the existent gameplay. The slo-mo for driving really helps alleviate a lot of the grief that came from running from the cops or trying to flee hit squads, and the slo-mo for shooting makes the open-world Max Payne comparisons even more appropriate. Additionally, I found that the DLC story missions really do well to help break up the slog that occupies Mafia III's midgame. The bookends propel the player forward, but, in the middle, filling out the DLC missions and getting started building your marijuana empire really help getting to the finish line.

And boy what a finish it is. I finally completed Mafia III today with 68 hours total, and the beginning and end of the game are a real treat. It pulls me in the same way that L.A. Noire pulled me in, by pulling from real trauma and real-world history to make characters and their stories believable. And just like that game, Mafia III is a great period piece that has superb bookends with a drawn-out middle.
 

Oynox

Member
What's one way to play Mafia 3 with all the DLC and free updates? Here are my suggestions we talked about earlier here!

I already wanted to post this to say that someone at Hangar 13 liked your idea and copied it until I noticed that you are the same person haha.

Thanks for the thorough plan and especially thank you for the beautiful maps! I hope they will be available at a higher resolution soon.

I finally redeemed the Season Pass and Family Kickback Bonus from my CE (lucky me, they go invalid after 10/7 I read...) and I am planing to play through the game once more (making it a total of three times) with all the DLC. However I think I will pick a gameplay wise concentration of the DLC and will play DLC 1 first to get cash, DLC 3 afterwards to rebuild Sammy's and use it as much as possible. DLC 2 at any later date when I am feeling exhausted from the district takeover.

However your suggestion sounds good as well. Maybe I will do a fourth playthrough if I miss some achievements... and the broken achievement is better fixed by now! Rushed through the whole game to get it and was severely disappointed.
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
The world building in this game is best in class for the genre.

If you found the September issue of Playboy in the game, there is an amazing 12 page interview with Stanley Kubric in it. I guess the "I read it for the articles" cliche was pretty true back then.
 
The world building in this game is best in class for the genre.

If you found the September issue of Playboy in the game, there is an amazing 12 page interview with Stanley Kubric in it. I guess the "I read it for the articles" cliche was pretty true back then.
Like in terms of environmental touches and NPC interactions? Watch Dogs 2 and GTA V are my favorites in that regard at the moment
 

FlyinJ

Douchebag. Yes, me.
Like in terms of environmental touches and NPC interactions? Watch Dogs 2 and GTA V are my favorites in that regard at the moment

GTA is denser and WD2 has better ambient AI systems. But I find that the art direction, music and ambience nail the immersion into the city they are modeling in Mafia 3 more than either.
 
GTA is denser and WD2 has better ambient AI systems. But I find that the art direction, music and ambience nail the immersion into the city they are modeling in Mafia 3 more than either.

It also manages to surpasses another challenge that these two other games do not : immerse you to a time period where people behaved in a different manner than today.

Even stuff like LA Noire or Assassin's Creed did not have NPCs reacting in a particular manner because of the time period (the white people insulting Lincoln in the streets, the police always staring at him, the police being way more reactive in white neighborhoods etc.).
 

Filben

Member
(the white people insulting Lincoln in the streets, the police always staring at him, the police being way more reactive in white neighborhoods etc.).
Don't forget signs stating "no colored allowed" in bars and restaurants and people reacting accordingly when you enter such establishments.
 

pakkit

Banned
So would you guys say the base game is worth 20$?

I think the season pass/deluxe version is worth the investment. It significantly lifts Mafia's midgame and adds a few gameplay improvements. Mafia III vanilla is good, but its repetition is a felt a lot more without the DLC missions to break it up.
 
It also manages to surpasses another challenge that these two other games do not : immerse you to a time period where people behaved in a different manner than today.

Even stuff like LA Noire or Assassin's Creed did not have NPCs reacting in a particular manner because of the time period (the white people insulting Lincoln in the streets, the police always staring at him, the police being way more reactive in white neighborhoods etc.).

having lived through the '60's, i can say that what hangar 13 has accomplished, afa this in particular goes, is pretty damn extraordinary. all praise to these guys for a truly remarkable game! :) ...
 

peakish

Member
So would you guys say the base game is worth 20$?
What are your expectations of it? I mean, those who did not like the game (and there are good reasons not to) are not likely to recommend the game at any price point while those who did will think it's a good deal. It's a very polarizing game, even if most players seem to agree completely on what it does right and what it does not.

I do like the game a lot (enough for it to make my GOTY list last year even with its flaws) so look at this post from that view. I think $20 is a great price for a game that delivers

  • Some of the best acted, written and directed cut scenes I've seen in games. With the caveat that I don't play many other AAA games (AC, etc) I think this game will be looked back upon as a landmark in games on account for how it does these. If that sounds interesting for you to experience, $20 sounds like a good deal to me.
  • An interesting although not particularly novel (except in games) story about how power corrupts and evil begets more evil. Seen through the lens of structural racism.
  • Many story line missions that are paced very well and are really fun to shoot through, with unique locations and cool set pieces. I think almost all of these missions are great in the game, just as the first few hours which almost everyone agrees are fantastic. The missions are just forgotten about once you have to do a lot of mediocre filler between them in the mid game.
It's this filler in the mid game that brings the game down a lot, in a way that works against the good elements. The great cut scenes from the main missions give way to the typical boring animation of someone flaying their arms while talking to you. The missions you have to beat to proceed are boring and repeated several times before you're done with them. Campster (of Errant Signal) said it well: a movie (or TV series) would show most of it in a montage, not explicitly in half of the total runtime.

If the good parts sound interesting enough to take a chance on, go for it. I think they are and worked through a lot of frustration (thanks to a lot of c2d's which are hopefully fixed now after several more patches) because I enjoyed them so much. Especially once you reach the end the game picks up the pace again and it becomes really damn good.



(Apparently there are mods out for the PC version which cut down the mid game and I think that's something to look out for if you don't like them. Haven't tried them myself though.)
 

Rellik

Member
I think the season pass/deluxe version is worth the investment. It significantly lifts Mafia's midgame and adds a few gameplay improvements. Mafia III vanilla is good, but its repetition is a felt a lot more without the DLC missions to break it up.

Does that include all the DLC? (Ridiculous that I even have to ask this, but it's 2017 gaming afterall)

I completed and loved the base game on PC at release but want to replay it with all DLC on the PS4 Pro when I've cleared my backlog a little.
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
Does that include all the DLC? (Ridiculous that I even have to ask this, but it's 2017 gaming afterall)

I completed and loved the base game on PC at release but want to replay it with all DLC on the PS4 Pro when I've cleared my backlog a little.

It does come with the DLC!

I grabbed it cheap from GAME a while back but only just redeemed the season pass the other day. I'm a good 5-6 hours into the game but I've put it on hold to play it on the X. Looking forward to seeing the X improvements.
 

Rellik

Member
It does come with the DLC!

I grabbed it cheap from GAME a while back but only just redeemed the season pass the other day. I'm a good 5-6 hours into the game but I've put it on hold to play it on the X. Looking forward to seeing the X improvements.

Thanks. I'm going to grab that version with the DLC when I can.

Edit: Actually, it's so cheap right now I may as well order it today. Even the Collector's Edition is cheaper than a regular new game.
 

peakish

Member
I finally bought and am playing through the DLC. It's all right, but I gotta say that what still sticks out to me the most is how this game renders light and rain. It seriously looks amazing and gives the game a totally unique look. Like the city air has a slimy haze in it. Not to say that it's perfect, there's a lot of weird artifacts in there and the picture is sometimes blown out, but I kind of love it nonetheless.

I also love how good the art team is at hair. Sometimes, at least. It's an inconsistent game, heh.
 

Cheever

Member
A couple more additions to the Mafia 3 settings will be coming out soon!

A comicbook about Sal Marcano in New Bordeaux...

Dark, gritty, and based on the hit video game, Mafia III: The Rise and Fall of Sal Marcano explores the brutal world of organized crime.

New Bordeaux is a city on the edge of the bayou—and on the edge of chaos. A hazy, fictional recreation of New Orleans in the 1960s, New Bordeaux is the kind of town where violence is the only way to survive and crime is the only way to get ahead. When gang warfare pushes the city to the brink, its citizens will discover the bayou can swallow a lot of secrets. And a lot of blood.

Brought to vivid life by top comic artist Richard Pace, Mafia III features the expansive world building and harsh realism that fans have come to expect from the Mafia video game series. With an original story that tells the rise to power of Sal Marcano by famed comic-noir writer Frank Tieri, this graphic novel is a new piece of the Mafia universe that fans will want to return to again and again.

86Dscd4.jpg



A pulp paper back featuring Donovan + Lincoln in Laos...

Before Lincoln Clay laid waste to New Bordeaux in his quest for vengeance against the Italian mob, he did a hard tour in Vietnam. In this authorized prequel to the hit game Mafia III, Clay learns the deadly skills he will put to good use back in New Bordeaux–first as an Army grunt, then as a Special Forces soldier running covert ops for the CIA.

Teaming up with his CIA handler, John Donovan, Clay leads a secret mission to take down a communist warlord on the edge of the legendary Plain of Jars in Laos. But he can’t do it alone. First, he has to win over the people of the village of Vang Khom, including the beautiful Sho. Then he has to form them into an army that can defeat the warlord’s superior forces, using nothing but his street-honed wits combined with the guerilla tactics he’s learned in the jungle. Victory seems to be finally within his grasp when he is betrayed by one of his closest allies, leading to a wild chase and an epic confrontation out among the ancient monuments, where his former friend becomes one of the first to discover what grim fate awaits those who cross Lincoln Clay.

OPC77xR.jpg

 

DC1

Member
simple question

as a complete product, do you guys put Mafia 3 on the same level as this

John-Marston-Wanted-red-dead-redemption-20390939-1920-1080.jpg
I don't want to answer your question. RDR is a world wide wonder in damn near every aspect for what it was when it was released.

My hope is that M3 is not a complete product yet. It has it's flaws but stands on it's own and I very happy for having purchased every dlc that was released in support of it.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
I loved Mafia 1 and liked Mafia 2 but I was put off by the reviews for number 3. I just recently picked it up in the sale with all DLC and I'm having an absolute blast. Don't know if it's been fixed or what but highly recommended from me.
 

Rellik

Member
I loved Mafia 1 and liked Mafia 2 but I was put off by the reviews for number 3. I just recently picked it up in the sale with all DLC and I'm having an absolute blast. Don't know if it's been fixed or what but highly recommended from me.

Because reviews are worthless. It's someone else's opinion. Not your own. Try the games for yourself.

I've completed Mafia III twice now and enjoyed every second.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
Because reviews are worthless. It's someone else's opinion. Not your own. Try the games for yourself.

I've completed Mafia III twice now and enjoyed every second.

True but you've got to make as an informed opinion as possible as you can't always play every game yourself. Just a nice surprise I've found this one so great and should there be a Mafia 4 id be more willing to give it a shot day 1.
 

DC1

Member
Mafia 3 was the biggest disappointment since my son.
The quote has now validated your statement.
-self contained? I believe it works in a Dangerfield kind of way.

- In context of the thread and associated question? ...Flat as a pancake's quest to find the right size for his ever protruding stomach girth.
 

Mister Apoc

Demigod of Troll Threads
I think what really makes me sad thinking about mafia 3 is the word potential it could of been an all time great game with the amazing narrative and acting but just fell short cause of the gameplay loop
 

Cheever

Member
Passing on things posted to Twitter earlier --

View the big world of Mafia 3

Here's a Satellite view of the city! (Link to HUGE version)
Here's a Stylized version of the city! (Link to HUGE version)
Here's an updated UI map from the game! (Link to HUGE version)

uFXLvk0.png



BONUS maps!

Before Donovan showed up he grabbed the latest CIA imagery of the region:
(Link to COLOR version) (Link to B&W version)

Visiting New Bordeaux? Dig out that map from your glovebox for all your tourist needs! Complete with notes from Lincoln & Donovan. I've no idea who's blood that is though...
(Link to HUGE version)

For developers and hikers, here's a heightmap...
(Link to bigger version)

DVFaBQj.png


The Road Atlas map is something I'm real happy with getting in. It features a lot of info about the world you don't find in-game -- like...

Names of places...
N4QaZzg.png


Notes from Donovan...
TMhBLK2.png


And special locations --
Like the Bayou cemetery. This was made for a scene cut from the start of the game. Other trivia, the canal row of cabins at Bourbon Digs was made for a gun fight then never used.
KzzZfQm.png


A fun thing to do with the HUGE maps... they're the same scale as the original GTA5 maps.
O9rrExU.jpg


And as shared before you can Google Map around to find lost airplanes or secret routes
 
Top Bottom