Skip To...
One of the newest additions that is debuting with Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the Canon Mode. As many know, previous games let you pick certain choices that affected a few quests and your character’s reactions to some situations. While some enjoy this RPG element, others prefer to play through a canon story, where all the choices have already been made. After spending a whole playthrough with Canon Mode, we have a few opinions about it, and we’ll tell you whether it changes a lot of things or everything stays the same.
Canon Mode in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Explained
When you start a new playthrough in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the game will give you the option to pick Canon Mode. You can’t change this once you choose it, so be careful if you want to go down this road or not. If you pick it, the game will remove the RPG-like choices in most conversations. A few optional quests still have them, but they are not that impactful. Yet, the main campaign won’t have any extra options for you to pick. In short, this option is great for those who want to enjoy the canon story without worrying much about their decisions or “save-scumming” to see a different outcome.
In a way, it may seem that Canon Mode is the best way to experience Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Ultimately, many games with RPG-like choices only give that illusion of choice. However, Shadows has a few interesting changes during the campaign that might make playing without Canon Mode the right choice.
Playing Without Canon Mode
Without spoiling much, there are a few benefits to turning off Canon Mode in Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Allow us to give you an example.
During one of the quests that involve a main target, Naoe has to infiltrate a tea party. In Canon Mode, you talk with the people around and quickly discover the target, thus killing them faster. However, things change drastically without Canon Mode.
Without Canon Mode, Naoe will have to guess who the target is. If she guesses wrong, she’ll have to kill the wrong target, discover who the real one is, and by the time she finds out, the real target will be inside a castle that is at full lockdown, packed with enemies, and making the whole quest longer and more difficult. So, as you can see, the game changes considerably if you don’t pick Canon Mode.
Ultimately, both options offer great things. Canon Mode will let you experience the Assassin’s Creed Shadows story as intended. However, without Canon Mode, there are many interesting choices, outcomes, and gameplay changes during quests that are worth experiencing. If you’re unsure, you can always play the game twice to see the differences.
