Mafia 3 is hilarious. A core pillar of the game's themes and narrative is muh racism, yet the gameplay has you behave like a stereotypical nigger that goes around assaulting, stealing from and murdering White people.
In Mafia 1 and 2 if the police pulled you over for speeding you could do the civilized thing and bribe them, instead of panicking and running away like a coon.
As I thought! What do you know, they shot themselves in the foot, and did an accurate representation. Honestly, for "underworld crime" games, if the protagonist is associated with gangs and such in a modern setting, I'm all for playing as a mystery meat, nigger, spic or whatever.
On the topic of "Open World/Sandbox feeling" the handcapping of Red Dead 3 that I dislike is the swimming mechanic. Sure, they had to show Marston cannot swim, and the better freedom for the player is only obtained by 1907. Yet Arthur is too restricted in movement throught 1899 - can't go to Great Plains and especially Blackwater, if you leave your cam, someone will end up looking for you. Eh, if you want a "better" experience, you would better go Online, and even then it's not the best plan.
EDIT: Apparently, the word I'm looking for is "Endless Summer", and Gemini Highlighted
here:
To explore freely as Arthur without camp interference or mandatory missions,
Stop playing after the Chapter 2 mission "The Hosea Hunting Trip" (Exit Pursued by a Bruised Ego). This unlocks stables, fishing, and the camp ledger, providing all necessary tools for free-roam while keeping the camp atmosphere positive and relaxed.
Best Ways to Explore Without "Bothering" Missions:
- Stop at Chapter 2: This is widely considered the best point for open exploration. The camp is upbeat, and you have all essential gameplay features unlocked.
- Ignore Yellow Missions: Stick to white "stranger" missions and ignore the yellow main story quests to avoid moving the plot forward.
- Use the Camp Ledger: As soon as you can, unlock the Ledger (requires doing a debt mission for Strauss) and upgrade camp lodgings to unlock fast travel, allowing you to easily leave camp.
- Avoid Mandatory TB Mission: You can skip the required mission to see Thomas Downes by triggering it, letting it save, and then deliberately failing it by riding away; this can sometimes allow you to cancel out and keep exploring, according to a Reddit user and a Steam Community post.
- Ignore the Camp: Camp members rarely "bother" you with tasks, and you can stay away for long periods without consequence.
Exploration Tips for Chapter 2:
- Unlock Key Features: Make sure to complete the mission where you get the horse brush, and the one where you catch a fish with Jack to unlock fishing.
- Get the Fence: Do the Hosea mission to unlock the Fence so you can sell stolen treasures.
- Hunt Legendaries: Use this time to unlock all 10 ranks of Explorer Challenges and find all treasures.
- Go Anywhere: Avoid Blackwater and New Austin (lawmen will kill you), but feel free to explore the Heartlands, Big Valley, and Lemoyne without pressure.
I also saw on
Reddit about chapter 4, for those who don't care about camp life.