The Assassin's Creed Ezio Trilogy contains some of the most beloved games of Ubisoft's franchise, but the series has never repeated that formula. Every new protagonist since the Ezio Trilogy has stuck around for one game, never receiving a story arc fleshed out across multiple titles. In a series that's been running for as long as Assassin's Creed has, it's weird that Ubisoft has never decided to attempt what it did with Ezio again, with other Assassins failing to reach the same iconic status.
Assassin's Creed 2 brought the action to the rooftops of Renaissance Italy, putting the player in the shoes of future Assassin's Creed legend Ezio Auditore, a caped playboy noble transformed by a quest for revenge and the discovery of a legacy. The game tells a complete story and character arc for its protagonist, but the follow-up Assassin's Creed Brotherhood found new directions for the narrative and dove into a broadened scope of the growing network of Assassins. Assassin's Creed Revelations moved to Constantinople and brought back Altaïr as a secondary protagonist, introducing new gameplay elements like tower defense and finding a conclusion for Ezio's arc.
No Assassin's Creed Protagonist Had As Many Games As Ezio
In the years since Ezio's story ended in Assassin's Creed Revelations, Ubisoft has never returned to a model of storytelling that follows one Assassin across multiple games. Present-day Assassin's Creed protagonist Layla Hassan has appeared in more than one game, but the bulk of the narrative takes place inside the Animus, where the cast has been shuffled through a revolving door. Not every game needed a full trilogy, but the rich settings of the series sometimes beg for more exploration. Several stories in the franchise could easily be continued, and many of the protagonists could receive deeper arcs once the origins of their lives as Assassins have already been covered.
Connor, the protagonist of Assassin's Creed 3, wasn't a fan favorite, but his character could have continued to grow after the end of the American Revolution, and plenty of appetizing new locations in the newly forged nation remained to be explored. A trilogy built around Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag could have been something special, as the seafaring gameplay was a series highlight for many players. The more recent games with huge open worlds might make the process of a sequel more difficult, but Bayek of Assassin's Creed Origins is perhaps one of the most compelling characters in the series and could no doubt continue to shine in a follow-up.
Although Assassin's Creed has never returned to the narrative approach of the Ezio games, it's not impossible that the series could do so in the future. Ubisoft could always decide to revisit a prior title with a newly expanded narrative, and future games might aim once more for what the Ezio Trilogy did. AC Mirage looks like it's taking the series back to its roots in some ways, and the game's protagonist Basim could have potential for adventures in future titles. For the time being, however, the Ezio Trilogy remains a unique anomaly among the Assassin's Creed games, one that fans are unlikely to forget.
