7. Using the Golden Apple
The plot-twist-reveal that your mentor Al Mualim actually wanted to harness the power of The Apple for himself is in itself one of the most memorable moments from the first game. However it was with the subsequent deploying of the artefacts power that the series did its first and most remembered tonal gear-change. No longer were you bound by the relative realism of Altairs tale, instead the modern sci-fi elements seeped through into his timeline, as Al Mualim uses the magical Piece of Eden to restrain Altair in mid-air, as well as creating various clones of himself to do battle. Its a very potent thematic-shift, and one that immediately established the franchise as its own entity, pairing the extremely-accurate historical landmarks and affectations with a more science-fiction-esque backdrop. Whether or not you could fully get onboard with this would be the deciding factor on whether or not you found the resulting Desmond Sections to be something of a grind, and as has been somewhat proven in Black Flag, the studios strength most definitely lies in letting you spend as much time inside the Animus as possible.