The Hidden Blade Assassin's Creed in Depth

So we play as a character that needs to be able to run all around the city and cause havoc and get in chases and such, but also generally is able to live a fairly normal life on the side, without being recognized all the time. It would make sense if they took more steps to obscure their identity than a hood.

In fact, it would make sense if they chose to forgo wearing a hood at all, and relied instead on altering their features through makeup and accessories.

Ubisoft's been wanting to push more player customization, and this could be a great way to do it. instead of making the armor bear the full brunt of that, players could have access to limited customization of the ancestor's visual appearance, which would be their "on-mission" disguise. If cutscenes all took place between missions (and thus between the times the Assassin is actively prowling the city) they could then have their default appearance.

A fun little conceit to make this consistent would be that you would be forced to wear the hood if you didn't make at least a few significant changes to their face's appearance. Otherwise hoods would be optional.

As far as how extensive this customization would be, take a moment to google the kinds of crazy things that can be done with the simplest kinds of makeup and accessories. Our assassins could potentially pass as members of the opposite gender with the right touches (which also provides an opportunity for the exact kind of self-expression that people found lacking in a game like Unity) and in fact this would be perhaps one of the most sensible and practical approaches for a killer trying to create an alternate persona that crashes public events and stabs people.

And in general, it would add an interesting layer to the Assassins: who they are in their work and personal life would diverge far more visibly, and could be a way for you to bond with your fellow brothers and sisters: learning why they chose the personas they did, and deciding what your choice says about your version of the playable ancestor. (or if they just stick with the hood, that tells you something about them too)

In gameplay terms this would be purely aesthetic, but it could be used to justify a harsher form of notoriety, since there's no need to worry about players potentially asking "how would she ever be able to walk around the city normally after getting that much attention?".

A thing to consider is that the ability to change appearance should probably be only available at a bureau or home base, and entering one of those should automatically reset the world's notoriety state: that removes from the equation the question of what happens when you change your disguise and re-engage guards who are looking for you: getting back to a bureau is simply your goal if you want to escape, not a place you go to cheat. this is more than just a convenient way to tie up that loose end, it's also a return to the clear world-state logic introduced in AC1: significant notoriety can only be removed by waiting it out in a safe house, and the animus fast-forwards time instantly for your convenience.