[STEAM] Assassin's Creed Shadows Has a 'Canon Mode' That Makes Every Dialogue Decision For You

[Steam 0]

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features a Canon Mode that makes every dialogue decision for the player instead of having them choose, Ubisoft has revealed.

Creative director Jonathan Dumont was asked by a fan on

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how much weight player choices have in Assassin's Creed Shadows. "Choices come more into play when recruiting allies and romancing some of the characters," Dumont said, before revealing the ability to remove these choices altogether.

"Since the fanbase is divided on branching dialogues, we have incorporated an option called Canon Mode which allows you to play the game with choices already made for you, to give you a choice free experience," he added. "Hope this makes it fun for everyone."

Role-playing games have long included dialogue options that allow players to shape the story, but Assassin's Creed picked up branching dialogue when it shifted to a full-on RPG series with

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Clearly, some fans preferred more concrete stories like that of Ezio's in

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.

Ubisoft will therefore hope fans of both options will pick up Assassin's Creed Shadows, which could be the most important entry in the franchise's history. Not only does it have a lot riding on it as the long-awaited Feudal Japan-set entry and the first full Assassin's Creed since 2020, but

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following recent flops.

It's not enjoyed a particularly positive promotional ******* so far, however. Issues began as some fans expressed frustration with inaccuracies in the game's depiction of Japan,

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and say the game is not intended to be a factual representation of history but instead "a compelling, historical fiction." This comes despite art director Thierry Dansereau telling IGN that

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just two months prior.

Concern was also raised when

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in artwork for Assassin's Creed Shadows without permission. Ubisoft apologized for doing so but refused to remove the artwork from the aforementioned and presumably already printed artbook available in the Collector's Edition. The historical re-enactment group said

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, but Ubisoft hasn't publicly acknowledged it since.

Yet another controversy came as

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over its "insensitive" design.

Fans are also frustrated by the delay to the game, as Assassin's Creed Shadows, which was originally

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. This puts Assassin's Creed Shadows in more direct competition with

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, another 2025 open-world action adventure game set in Feudal Japan.

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, however. "There's a lot of space for very high-quality games, and those two games can sell very well," he said in the company's latest earnings call. "The focus is to really make sure that we deliver a fantastic experience with this dual protagonist approach and two different and complimentary gameplays."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

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