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When starting a new game of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll be given the option to toggle on the canon mode setting alongside the typical range of pre-game settings, including difficulty, immersive mode, and guided exploration mode. However, canon mode comes with a major caveat – it can’t be turned off after starting a new game. It’s set in stone once you get past the new game setup screen.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through what exactly is canon mode in Assassin’s Creed Shadows and whether or not you should have the setting on or off.
What is canon mode in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Canon mode in Assassin’s Creed Shadows removes all dialogue choices during cut scenes, letting you play through the canon story as the developer and writers intended it to unfold. In practice, this means that you won’t be given any dialogue options during cut scenes. They will run through uninterrupted without the option to select among several possible response options. In other words, you can’t influence the story whatsoever.
Should you play with canon mode turned on in Assassin’s Creed Shadows?
The answer depends on how you want to play Assassin’s Creed Shadows. If you enjoyed the dialogue options and heightened RPG elements in games like Odyssey, then turning off canon mode is likely the best option for you, as you’ll have an influence on how conversations play out. Though, it’s worth noting that, in our experience, alternative choices have very little impact or bearing on how the overall story plays out. As in most games, choice is a superficial, illusory concept and outcomes are almost always the same, especially when they evolve around major story beats.
If you’re more inclined to see the definitive story play out as the developers intended with Naoe and Yasuke sticking to canon responses and decisions in conversations, then play with canon mode switched on. This is one for fans of older AC games and, more recently, Mirage.
Having played myself with canon mode turned off for our review, the dialogue choices aren’t that much to write home about. other than spicing up conversations they never felt all that impactful or meaningful. For example, the first choice you’re presented with is revealing whether Yasuke can speak Japanese or remain silent. Whichever option you choose, the outcome is the same: Oda Nobunaga will take a liking to Yasuke and the prologue with progress the same. It’s that flavour of dialogue choice that you’ll encounter with canon mode toggled off.
Put simply, if you want dialogue choices turn off canon mode. If don’t want to deal with dialogue options, turn on canon mode. Don’t sweat the decision though as, again, the choice really isn’t as seismic as the new game setup screen suggests.
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