6. Assassin’s Creed II (2009)
If the original game felt empty and more like an impressive tech demo and the first draft of a better video game, Assassin’s Creed II was that better game. Ezio was a vastly more interesting, well-written, and developed character than Altair. Nearly every aspect of the first game was improved in AC II: combat, climbing, mission variety, and the visuals. The location, Italy, was also a nice change of scenery.
Assassin’s Creed II was a bigger game. Eventually, the franchise got too obsessed with being bigger and bigger, but here it felt like a natural next step after the first game. The modern-day narrative got more time to shine and we start to see the connections to other parts of the franchise here, like the Isu and more history about the war between the Assassins and Templars.
