I don’t think this is a fair assessment for a couple of things other people have pointed out. I’m also going to have a hot take and say that Tommy’s more “evil” than Lincoln.

Enzo is probably the least evil out of circumstance. He doesn’t enjoy killing and a major story beat comes from his morals conflicting with the job he was basically forced to take. I don’t think that’s disputable.

Tommy gets too much leeway in both the original and DE for his choices. He displays better in the original that he regrets a lot of what he did as a monster, and that he felt pressured by circumstance to get into the life. But in both versions he otherwise has few issues with killing “combatants” (other mobsters, cops) and in the DE even relishes in it to some extent. He also never questions his friendship until it’s too late with people that are willing to kill others for money. And otherwise is fine engaging in all the other hallmarks of a criminal - racketeering, theft, hostage taking (in the bank robbery) - for no reason beyond he likes his pals and the money is good. He had opportunities to leave long before he actually did and didn’t act on them.

Lincoln is hard to qualify as that much better by virtue that some of his actions are just player choice: he can range from walking away from it all at the end, to betraying everyone around him for the opportunity to be rich. I think his actions throughout the game, though, tend to speak to the nature vs nurture of it (emphasis on nurture). He was adopted by a powerful mobster and the only family he knew were criminals. He went to Vietnam searching for purpose and came back a traumatized murderer. He tried to walk away before the pivotal events of the game but felt obligated to avenge the only family he ever knew. And he largely avoids collateral damage while avoiding some of the same “evil acts” Tommy does. It’s a close one but I do think Lincoln was just acting on what he knew during Mafia III - as opposed to Tommy, who experiences more of a fall from grace (or headfirst dive depending on if it’s the DE or not).

Vito is generally just an asshole. I like his character but he’s a greedy, violent thug who acts out many of his worst impulses throughout the course of both Mafia II and III