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Assassin’s Creed Shadows is a unique entry in the series for a number of reasons, but the biggest is its Feudal Japan setting and the use of an actual historical figure as one of the main characters.
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Yasuke’s position as one of Shadows’ protagonists has put a bit more pressure on the game’s canonical standing. That usually isn’t a worry for Assassin’s Creed, but it seems Ubisoft wanted to be more careful as it’s introduced a new feature called “Canon Mode”.
What Is Canon Mode?
As the name suggests, Canon Mode is a setting that can be toggled for Assassin’s Creed Shadows that lets the “canonical” version of events play out during cutscenes. This is due to the fact that Shadows is similar to Odyssey and Valhalla with its RPG elements and occasionally lets the player make dialogue choices.
When Canon Mode isn’t activated, the player is free to choose between whatever dialogue options pop up during conversations. If you’ve got it turned on during a playthrough, the dialogue options are automatically chosen by the game, removing any choice and letting the “canon” version of events play out.
Canon Mode cannot be turned on and off for a playthrough. Once you make the decision to turn it on or off, it’ll remain that way for your playthrough. Choose wisely!
What Does Canon Mode Change?
Canon Mode might initially seem like it doesn’t change all that much, but it actually ends up having a big impact on Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ story. Dialogue choices are fairly sparse in the opening hours and usually result in the same outcome, but many of the later missions seemingly present you with some pretty big choices to make, like choosing to spare or attack someone.
In my experience, I found that most of the big choices you’re offered don’t actually let you take control of the narrative, with the same events happening most of the time. There are some that are affected, though.
As an example of how Canon Mode works, one of the first dialogue choices in the game has Yasuke choose Yasuke choosing whether to speak to Oda Nobunaga or remain silent. The end result is the same either way, but in Canon Mode, Yasuke speaks to Nobunaga without a choice popping up at all.
Later on in the game, though, Naoe and Yasuke get more options for what to say during conversations. Some of it is just background dressing without a major impact, but there are some romances and smaller targets that can be decided if Canon Mode isn’t turned on. If you choose to play in Canon Mode, though, that choice is made for you every time.
Canon Mode doesn’t just decide the outcome of main story cutscenes, as it also applies to ally quests and side missions too. The easiest way to think about it is that it basically removes dialogue choices from the game entirely and presents one set story. There’s no major benefit or downside to doing so, but I’d recommend keeping Canon Mode off to get a little freedom in how conversations go.
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