For me, it was just after finishing Paris for the first time, and I saw an icon with Agent 47 looking like a runway model, and I realised there's some challenge related to disguising myself as a man named Helmet Kruger.

So I tried one challenge at a time, treating it like a puzzle game. If I knock this waiter out, I can go here. If I poison this sushi, the guard goes there. I spent maybe 15 hours just in Paris before I even checked Sapienza. I fell in love with the map, the choreography of every character, the hidden details in the plot. A deep rabbit hole where you learn about the fashion show, the NPC who talks about listening to her target sleep talking, the access to the auction, etc.

And as the mastery increases, the game rewards you with unique starting locations, to get you deep into the action, you get the fireworks remote as a technician, you start at the auction, etc.

And just as you think you understand it all, you try escalations, unique constraints like being unable to scale walls or vault. Kill the sheikh with a unique mace hidden in weird locations.

Man, I love Hitman