Palio literally translates to “prize” or “banner” but where Mafia: The Old Country is based, the word culturally became synonymous with “race” over time. Palio is also the title of Chapter 2 and takes place three weeks after Enzo moves into the villa. He is sporting a new hairstyle while Luca praises Enzo for being so well-adjusted. To begin, Luca provides Enzo with a delivery task that harkens back to a previous Wine Delivery Schedule via Journal Entry. The following provides an overview of Chapter 2 – Palio, lore, knife combat tips, horse racing, and other points of interest.
Palio (Chapter 2), Mafia: The Old Country
Objectives:
- Buy a Knife
- Defeat Luca
- Explore the Palio
- Win the Race
- Defeat the Spadardo
The first prompt is ‘Get on the horse’. There are no points of interest available and walking too far away will cause mission failure. The ride is picturesque with dialogue exchange between Luca and Enzo.
Ride with Luca
Main Points of Conversation:
- Torrisi’s Palio riders are considered the best in the region
- Many of Don Torrisi’s associates are known for their extreme loyalty
- Luca has worked for Torrisi for about 20 years
- Luca was a young cattle farmer before bandits raided his father’s farm, after which Torrisi took him in
- Enzo wishes to stay in Italy though has never travelled far from the mines
- Pasquale is a “Friend of the Family” and also a mechanic
Side note: The dilapidated “barn” previously seen in Famiglia (Chapter 1) is later referred to as a “cattle shed”. The conversation highlights a possible synchronicity of Luca being rescued on his father’s cattle farm by Torrisi and Enzo also being rescued by Torrisi in the same place, twenty years later.
The first destination is referred to as Carrozzeria D’Amato which translates to ‘D’Amato Body Shop’. Luca tasks the player with dropping off a wine crate to his associate Pasquale. The game will introduce Pasquale, his mother, and two primary currencies Dinari and Trinacria
Buy a Knife
DINARI is the criminal currency gained from looting. DINARI can be used to purchase weapons, vehicles, and outfits from any wardrobe, garage, stable or weapon locker.
TRINACRIA (also known as Triskelion) are prized artifacts from Sicily’s ancient past. You can trade any Trinacria found for Dinari at Pasquale’s store.
Once that is established, Pasquale will point the player towards his mother to buy a knife. There will be no more accessible points of interest until the player reaches the matron of the shop.
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- Dialogue prompt
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- Journal Entry
Besides the knife, there will be several icons throughout the shop with prompts for dialogue, health, and a Journal Entries.
The Sicilian Trinacria, a deeply rooted symbol of Sicily
The room here also provides a glimpse of future weapons like the Bodeo Nero (Italian military revolver) as well as a place to upgrade your Charm Box.
Knives
Choosing the perfect knife is important to gameplay. Every knife carries different attributes. Hold the left bumper (L1) or (LB) to bring up the weapon panel and press O (PS5) or B (Xbox) to equip your knife.
All knives double as lockpicks and activate stealth takedowns (violent) while some even offer ranged combat. All special actions are prompted via context via O (PS5) or B (Xbox).
The first knife available is the Viperi knife (200 DINARI) which types as the Scannaturi Speciale. Knives under the Sannaturi type can be used to perform Knife Throw Takedowns. Hold X (PS5) to purchase then again to EQUIP.
Viperi, Scannaturi, Basic – Don’t forget to EQUIP!
A wardrobe is now available to access within Pasquale shop on the righthand side upon entering.
Wardrobe at Pasquale’s Shop, Change your outfit here
BUG or GLITCH
The player can possibly activate the ammo kit twice inside the shop. Once before and once after buying the knife. It is only available in those instances and is otherwise inaccessible.
Speak to Luca
A cutscene will ensue with Luca. He provides some life advice and codes to live by then challenges Enzo to a knife fight.
Defeat Luca
The following are basic controls to a DUEL, the goal here is to stick or slice Luca.
PS5 Controls for Knife DUEL
Afterwards, Luca teaches the player how to PARRY. When an attack from the opponent is imminent, the player has about a second to PARRY which activates a light block & evade maneuver.
PARRY block and evade
How to DODGE. There will be an audible ‘shink‘ noise. About a second after that sound is the best time to DODGE.
‘Strikes’ from the opponent CAN NOT be blocked and must be DODGED.
The knife will ‘shink’ when a STRIKE is imminent. The blade will flare with a sharp red glint-y cross
STRIKE then becomes available by right bumper, R1 (PS5) or RB (XBOX). The point of STRIKE is to destabilize the opponent creating an opening to THRUST or SLICE.
The only defense is the forearm in a DUEL
Use the Right Bumper to STRIKE and break the opponents defense
While Enzo clearly wins the fight because the point is to defeat Luca, he behaves as if the player lost. A brief cutscene plays where the tasks will pivot back to the delivery schedule.
Ride with Luca to the Palio
The player’s next point of interest will be back to his horse only and venturing too far away outside of that will prompt a mission failure.
Immediately after mount, the player is prompted to SPUR their horse which activates horseback sprint.
Press the Right Bumper to SPUR horse
The environment will be interactive but there are no more points of interest nor time to waste. The Palio happens once a year.
Explore the Palio
Upon reaching the Palio di San Celeste, Luca will release Enzo to explore before he must ‘Head to the Torrisi race tent’
San Celeste Location, Upon the Soapbox Steps at the Palio
A point of interest will be a San Celeste Statue to collect at the soap box.
Another, will be a Journal Entry located on the righthand side of the stage with the Palio di San Celeste banner. The Journal Entry tells of the Cantastoria’s tale, The Bandit Prince.
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- Journal Entry Location, Palio
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- The Cantastoria’s tale, The Bandit Prince
Lore and Legends
In the context of Mafia: The Old Country, The Cantastoria’s Tale – The Bandit Prince appears to be unique to the game. A cantastoria is basically a bard and translates to “story-singer” or “sung story” in English. It is a traditional story-telling art form in Italy. Historically, there does not appear to be an actual existing folk tale with that title. Though traditionally, Robin Hood type figures and other ‘noble outlaws’ were a running theme in classical cantastorias.
At this point in the game, it’s not clear if the game developers meant for The Bandit Prince trope to mirror Don Torrisi or Enzo, perhaps both. So far, the player should have heard several stories of Torrisi ‘looking out for people’ in his territory. While his temper has been mentioned more than once, we haven’t quite seen him exploit his clear-cut power just yet. Enzo is also an obvious front-runner for this trope and we’ve seen remnants of his nobility when he defended the injured worker from II Merlo’s abuse in the prologue. Also, Enzo appeared to know how to read while other characters did not.
Another miss-able point of interest will be a Newspaper on the lefthand side of Torrisi’s tent which prompts a Player Trophy.
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- Newspaper Collectible Location
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- Player Trophy, Newspaper Location Palio
Head to the Torrisi race tent
A cutscene ensues where we find out that Torrisi’s star rider got drunk the night before and can’t participate in the race. Enzo volunteers to ride and is urged to win by the Don Torrisi. The daughter Isabella looks visibly impressed.
“I can ride, Don Torrisi”
Win the Palio
The race appears to be two laps total with three timed SPUR speed buffs available that replenish over time. During the first lap it’s best to use only the first SPUR to maintain a place somewhere in the middle.
It’ll cost about two SPURS to gain some head over each horse-riding opponent. If the player does not use any SPURS the icon disappears from the screen but they are still available to use and will appear again when prompted.
4th place, 1 Spur Left about 1/3 through the first lap
During the second lap, it’s crucial to climb closer to first place. The above building is a marker of 1/3 of a lap, and here the player should start heading towards first place.
The second marker is the triangle banners and spectator stand, the player should maintain first place from here until the end of the race.
Under the triangle banners, if the player is not in 1st place by now – use SPUR to get ahead fast
When successful, a victory cutscene will play and II Merlo will make a brief appearance. Enzo’s celebration is short-lived as he is tasked with finishing his delivery schedule. A double-y impressed Isabella joins Enzo, concluding the scene.
Follow Isabella
Following Isabella is fairly straight-forward with no points of interest until the player reaches the first stop. A dialogue icon will appear as she waits.
Dialogue Icon, Isabella
The first delivery will show a man who displays a polite fearfulness of Isabella. Isabella later expresses to Enzo it’s only because of her father. There will be soft dialogue between Enzo and Isabella until the player reaches a shrine of sorts where she will tell a story about her mother. She invites Enzo to say a prayer, he encourages Isabella to say one instead.
Isabella, Mother Story
Next, Enzo and Isabella run into a group of Spadardo men where they insult Isabella. Enzo defends her by challenging them to a DUEL.
The player will put into practice what he learned with Luca earlier in the chapter.
Knife Combat Tips
When using PARRY, Enzo’s arm must meet the attacking opponent’s arm. Below, the PARRY was too early (or late) and therefore will be unsuccessful, Enzo will take damage.
Here, PARRY was activated too early and failed…
Notice how Enzo’s hand appears as he’s trying to grab the opponent’s arm
A successful PARRY basically grabs the attacking opponent’s middle forearm like so and moves it upward, otherwise it will fail. A properly timed PARRY or DODGE causes the opponents blade to evade Enzo, protecting from damage.
Successful PARRY makes contact with the opponents attacking arm at just the right time
When the player sees their opponent with a blocking stance (one arm up to block an attack), the player must STRIKE to destabilize their opponent, then quickly THRUST or SLASH to deal damage.
STRIKE at this moment to break the opponents defense
A final cutscene will play where Luca interrupts the fight. Luca looks appalled at the scene, not due to the scuffle but because Enzo was alone with Isabella. She attempts to advocate for Enzo but Luca quickly dismisses her making her promise to not tell her father. Luca urges Enzo to never be seen alone with Isabella not because he doesn’t trust him but because he doesn’t trust other people to interpret the situation innocently.
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- Luca forbids Enzo from being seen with Isabella
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- Enzo agrees
The chapter ends where the player receives a Trophy at completion.
The above guide describes gameplay set to Medium difficulty.
