I agree with you.L&P shows an unbelievable naivety of Sophia and Liam in dealing with the Mafia. From the narrator's point of view, this could mean he doesn't want to give much importance to the whole Morello Path. As far as the realism of history is concerned by L&P, however, this point of view cannot be understood at all. Not if the Parker family owes 400,000 bucks to Morello. But no matter it's L&P story, there is nothing I can do about it, and maybe something will come.
But at the moment it is completely unclear to me how Sophia finds out that Morello, through his brother, now feels obliged to her. The word "Cumae" was used, but I had to goggle the meaning. How would you react if the most powerful mafia boss calls you and tells you he owes you a favor to ask him for a favor. If at the same time you owe the mob boss a large amount of money. Then on the phone would you say "I have a problem with someone"? Or would you reject everything that the mafia lets back into your life? Actually, it would be incredibly naive and unrealistic to let Sophia get involved with it.
As for the choice between Aiden or Bennett. Aiden threatens your son's life / health and appears to have powerful allies. With Aiden, Sophia thinks she can control the situation. Bennett is a direct threat to your son's future and also to Sophia. In real life, the decision wouldn't be that easy. In this game, the developer made the decision for me by shortening the Bennett route. (Which is not to say that I would have decided otherwise than to set Morello on the repulsive pig Bennet.)
In real life such a convenient deal would be ridiculous, to the point that maybe Mafia should sue L&P for misrepresenting their category
Even if Don Morello can be considered a "high class" mobster, more business oriented then a violent one, it's difficult to think that a simple prison visit, no matter how far Sophia goes, is enough to free them from the debt or at least a big chunk of it.
Python:
dm "You see, before anything, and everything... I am a businessman. My interests are in solving problems strategically, and efficiently."
dm "So, finishing you off... That wouldn't benefit me at all! It's an antiquated, and stereotypical view of our business."
[...]
dm "The money isn't actually what's important to me here. It's the principle. A man reaps what he sows."
dm "But most of all, it hurts me that such a lovely woman has to suffer under the foolishness of her spouse."
dm "I therefore propose you a special deal... A way to redeem a big part of the debt, and keep your home intact."
[...]
dm "After that, we'll talk about your debts once more. I might even consider freeing you from all of them!"
This is for what we know from the story and the small pieces of information from the dev. I'm not digging into other theories that we explored in the past for which, e.g., the gambling was a set up or Liam was already in debt etc.
For what has to come, according to what the dev said (thanks KillJoys ) Larry's points (i.e. how far Sophia went) could matter for the help that she can receive from Morello.
Possibilities are endless and it's difficult to say. L&P seems to suggest that just visiting without giving too much to Larry is enough to get rid of the debt. Probably getting to the cumare status (i.e. without showing the breast and anything after that) will grant the "protection" and the favor to ask. There could be a finer grained set of outcomes based on Larry's point but that will make things more complicated (branches etc)
Again, I agree that it is unrealistic to have such a good deal + "protection" for just a prison visit. The only thing that can make it a more believable is, again, the Family and the particular "honor" system that rules the Mafia world. I think we are again the conditional realism realm or/and we can grant L&P an artistic licence.
As for the choices of asking Morello's help and who should "sleep with the fishes" I see the potential for Sophia to choose between the lesser of the two evils (Morello or deal with Aiden/Bennet alone), as the favor could come with some "strings attached" or at the very least accepting to be part of the "Family" is not a choice that someone (at least in real life) could make with a light heart, once you are in the Family you cannot quit...
Last edited: