8 Video Game Franchises That Made Their Mark With Sequels

5. Assassin's Creed

The original Assassin's Creed was a pretty underwhelming open world action stealth game, despite the hype it managed to build prior to its release. The entire experience was ripe with boring combat and formulaic gameplay mechanics that repeated in a predictable manner every time across what seems like an agonisingly long campaign. It probably didn't help that the main character was boring and painfully average, set in a story that is as confusing as it was uninteresting. It wasn't an altogether terrible game, but it's hard to find one area of the game that didn't underwhelm the player with varying levels of mediocrity. Ubisoft persisted however, and went on to create one of the biggest franchises in the video game industry today, starting with the second mainline game in the series, Assassin's Creed II. A direct sequel to its predecessor, Assassin's Creed II wowed critics and fans alike with an epic narrative full of personable and endearing characters, set in a rich, colourful open world full of activities in which to engage and locations to explore. With a likable protagonist that players could recognise as a human being and a game that improved upon the mechanics of its predecessor in every way, Assassin's Creed was poised to become Ubisoft's highest selling series to date. It could be argued that this is the game that both saved and destroyed the franchise, as this was the point where it would become annualised, much to the chagrin of fans later down the line, as quality and innovation were sacrificed to meet yearly deadlines much like its close contemporary, Call of Duty. What can not be argued however, is that this franchise earned its place in the industry with Assassin's Creed II, a game that far exceeded its predecessors.