Many gangster games lean into the romanticized or over-the-top nature of the criminal underworld. Mafia: Definitive Edition takes a different path, telling the much more grounded story of Tommy Angelo. His journey through the NYC stand-in of Lost Heaven as a member of the fictional Salieri crime family is compelling, emotional, and filled with interesting characters. As I progressed through the game, I found myself increasingly more invested in Tommy and the people around him. Without this investment, I don’t think I would have finished the game as the combat is mediocre and really served as filler for me between the story beats. There are a few memorable missions (a high speed chase in a race car sticks out), but many are just cover-based shootouts that grow tiresome quickly. With no sort of character progression (or any progression really outside of the story), there is no hook pulling you forward aside from seeing what happens to Tommy. That being said, if you find yourself interested in what happens to this made man, then you’ll find Mafia: Definitive Edition a fun romp through the 1930s Italian mafia.