The main historical story of Assassin’s Creed II begins in 1476.
That opening places players in Renaissance Italy and introduces Ezio Auditore da Firenze as a young Florentine nobleman. After a family tragedy, Ezio begins a long journey that takes him through cities and regions including Florence, Monteriggioni, Tuscany, Forlì, and Venice. The campaign later advances through several years of Ezio’s life.
The year 1476 is important because it establishes Ezio before he becomes a fully trained Assassin. The game then uses the political and cultural world of late-fifteenth-century Italy as the setting for his pursuit of the people responsible for his family’s destruction. Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo de’ Medici, and Rodrigo Borgia are among the historical figures connected to the story.
This date can be confused with the game’s release year, 2009, or with later dates in Ezio’s chronology. Assassin’s Creed II is the second major game in the series, but its historical narrative is set centuries before the first game’s Third Crusade storyline.