Oh man, we almost forgot it’s Ezio’s birthday today

We probably couldn’t do a cake without incinerating the dining room, but happy 558th birthday to Ezio Auditore da Firenze. For some reason, Assassin’s Creed 2 was very specific about listing his birthday — June 24, 1459, so we might as well observe it.

Ezio had a three-year run, most of any main character in the Assassin’s Creed franchise, making him the game’s most recognizable and beloved hero. It also helps that Assassin’s Creed 2 in 2009 was a major breakthrough, preserving the great potential shown by the original and the things it did do right, but folding in some role-playing elements and other features to blend out that game’s repetitive tendencies. And the jumping puzzles were first rate, particularly Il Duomo’s. I hope when my house is in ruins 400 years from now, it decays into something parkour enthusiasts can enjoy.

Anyway, Ezio and his (spiritual) ancestor Altair are about to be outdone in age by Assassin’s Creed’s newest protagonist, Bayek, who on Oct. 27 will be throwing down in Ptolemaic Egypt, which is around 300 B.C. For more on what he’s doing in the game, check out our hands-on impressions from E3 2017, below.