10 Video Games So Great They Ruined The Series
4. Assassins Creed II
The original Assassin's Creed felt like a taster of what the new console generation had to offer, but it was the sequel that really announced the series was here for the long haul. That intro (pictured), where you've just raced as Ezio against his brother to the top of a tower overlooking the city, and the two exchange words about wanting their good lives to stay just as they are, is a poignant marker of the presentation, personality and narrative depth in store for players.
The several Italian cities you could visit were brimming with life and character, the soundtrack was pitch-perfect, the moveset expanded, and Ezio was the best damn protagonist the series had seen up to that point, and to this day.
Out of the mass of Assassin's Creed games following it, only Black Flag came close to matching Assassin's Creed II, successfully drowning a shallow story out in excellent pirate-themed fun in the Caribbean. But even so, neither it nor certainly any other game in the series has recaptured the beauty of Ezio's Italian adventure.