Summary
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows is introducing Canon Mode to the series, which chooses all the dialogue options for you.
- This surprising addition came about due to fans being annoyed about the lack of a “definitive” story in Odyssey and Valhalla.
- Canon Mode means that there’s a set frame of reference for Shadows’ story going forward.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows‘ creative director, Jonathan Dumont, has revealed that Canon Mode was introduced because some fans weren’t happy with the RPG choices in Odyssey and Valhalla.
We’re just a few short weeks away from the long-awaited arrival of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which finally takes the series to Feudal Japan and changes the gameplay considerably with two distinct playable characters. That being said, anyone who has played the previous Assassin’s Creed RPGs will have a good idea of what they’re getting into.
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That includes assassinations that won’t always work on enemies, upgradeable armour and weapons, and dialogue options when talking to certain characters in story missions or side quests. While Shadows is keeping those tried-and-true RPG elements, there’s a degree of customisation to it all thanks to the addition of Canon Mode.
Assassin’s Creed Creative Director Explains The Addition Of Canon Mode
Canon Mode is a brand-new feature in Assassin’s Creed Shadows that can be turned on by players when starting a new game and basically results in all dialogue options being chosen for them. Considering how key the dialogue choices are to the previous Assassin’s Creed RPGs, it’s a surprising addition, but one that comes thanks to fan feedback.
While talking to Game Rant about the mode’s addition, creative director Jonathan Dumont explained that Canon Mode was added to Shadows since some players were “disappointed” about there not being a definitive and canon narrative for the game. This made both Odyssey and Valhall’s places in the series’ lore a bit confusing, which is something that the devs wanted to change for Shadows.
After speaking with our fans during development, we decided to add a mode that takes out all the choices for AC Shadows and that can serve as a reference story within the franchise. This way players can enjoy the more RPG style of narrative or a more linear one, if they prefer. – Johnathan Dumont
This change means that there’s a canonical “reference story” within Assassin’s Creed Shadows, which will presumably be the basis for the game’s story moving forward. Of course, it’s an optional mode that’s completely up to the player still, but it does mean that there should be no more questions about what’s canon and what isn’t.
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