Technically played this under the World of Assassination Trilogy, but I'm largely marking it here to cover my replay of the Hitman 1 and 2 sections on the PC.

Really turned around on Hitman 2! While I found the maps of 2 to be lackluster on my previous playthrough, I was really won over by the sheer versatility of options. Most people are anti-Mission Story, but I find them to be useful tools for someone like me when I'm still learning the map. Yet I was wowed by all the depth to the non-Mission Story plotlines you could uncover, hidden behind various chance decisions that only become apparent with enough exploration.

But this was also the playthrough where I finally locked into the Hitman 2 DLC levels, which really stunned me. As fun as a big map is, I really appreciated how tight and comfortable a smaller map ended up being. It adds wonderful variety. Bank heist, rich people islands. It all works for excellent murder locations.

On top of that, my greater understandings of the maps really helped me excel in Featured Contracts and Escalations. The sheer girth of bonus content is daunting, but endlessly exciting to unravel.

After being slightly worn out by my original Hitman 2 playthrough, Hitman on my laptop felt so much less restrictive to me. I certainly clocked a lot of hours into the PS4 version, but I feel more free to just clock onto Hitman for 15 minute chunks. Drift into a low commitment puzzle. I feel like I could be using my computer storage for other hefty games, but Hitman is just such a constant pleasure to sink time into. Moving onto Hitman 3 and Freelancer mode adds a special thrill to my bones, because I know there's so much more fresh murder waiting for me. It shouldn't be a cozy game for me, but it absolutely is.

Edit: More specific thoughts I forgot to add.

Playing Hitman 1 in the Hitman 2 system is a huge change. The ability to hide in bushes shouldn't change much, but it transforms the first game's Colorado map from a nightmare zone into a viable mode of play. It helps elevate the original game into something even better. Hitman 1 is a slowly escalating challenge, but Hitman 2 feels more experimental in variety and tone. They know what works and just love to show off at this point.

To that end, I also warmed up on the Columbia map I originally disliked. I think levels are at their best when they say something about the targets you're killing. The way the Delgado mansion is almost a museum to his ego works wonders for his character and the contrast between that ego and the reality that the community lives with is fascinating.

I think in general, I learned to focus less on how the targets impact the level and how the people of the level feel about the target. The New York bank level has dartboards of the target hanging in offices, bitter employees everywhere. The Mumbai level creates a real sense of fear that the locals live under, that the three targets control the city on a horrific scale. Its excellent for world-building as you dive into the belly of these beasts. I was just really charmed by how the level design has shifted over time. it all works for me.