Assassin’s Creed Shadows has tons of interesting dialogue choices to make Naoe’s and Yasuke’s journey, and picking the Canon Mode totally alters how this works.
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The Canon Mode is an interesting proposal, but players need to know how this works to be able to make this decision before embarking on this adventure across Sengoku-era Japan. So, in this guide, players will find all the information they need to know about how Canon Mode alters gameplay and immersion.
Canon Mode Main Differences In Assasin’s Creed Shadows
Upon being activated, Canon Mode will automatically pick all the dialogue options that are set to be up to the player’s choice, in a consistent pattern that will always pick the best possible outcome, even when completing Main Missions.
What is more, all dialogues (voiceovers) will switch to Japanese and Portuguese, which will guarantee complete immersion throughout AC Shadow‘s adventure. It is thought to be a way of expressing fidelity to the setting and culture of the game, but players can still activate subtitles if they need to, which will appear as intended below the screen.
So, the main differences between Canon Mode and Normal Mode will be the removal of the dialogue choice UX, and the language of the voiceovers.
Should You Play In Canon Mode Or Not?
If players still need to figure out a reason why they should play Canon Mode or Normal Mode, they should first know that having Canon Mode activated will not punish them in any possible way. The same happens if they are running the game in Normal Mode.
It is up to the players to decide if they want to play in Canon Mode or not. Assassin’s Creed Shadows in Canon Mode will feel more immersive, but the player’s agency (decisions, player’s choice) will be directly eliminated.
On the other hand, the regular experience might seem like the safest choice for those who only want to enjoy the game their way and don’t care about the language at all.
While several other titles like AC Vallhala, AC Odyssey, and AC Origins had some room for dialogue options, the overall franchise (including Mirage) didn’t always pay too much attention to players’ choices. It was a pretty straightforward experience with an in-depth narrative focus that took players from point A to point B while performing a series of missions.
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Assassin’s Creed Shadows has somewhat changed the way this works, bringing to the plate the decision of playing with as much ‘historical accuracy’ as possible in exchange for losing some of the magic of ‘choosing your own adventure,’ and that is okay.
In case players fear missing out on some of the content by selecting the Canon Mode, they should fear not, as some of the critical choices are still designed to make players think they are choosing wrong or right, but ultimately, it will be resolved in a favorable way. For example, when identifying one of Naoe’s killers during a Tea party, and playing out of Canon Mode, players can pick and murder the wrong person, to later discover they did wrong and who is their true target.
In Canon Mode this would have happened in a straightforward manner: directly making Naoe confront the murderer and avoiding unnecessary bloodshed, but, in the end, it will be up to the players to infiltrate her hideout and take her down, as it happens in most AC games.
So, ultimately, playing in Canon Mode or not will be up to the player’s choice, and in no matter will they alter the outcome of the game in general terms. One of the only things that is always left up to the players’ choice even with Canon Mode is the romance sequences, and changing characters will also be permitted. So, there’s no real reason why players should avoid playing in Canon Mode.
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language