The New ‘Canon Mode’ in Assassins Creed Shadows Explained
The next installment, Assassins Creed Shadows, promises to bring with it an important element giving the game's players narrative freedom: the option to either actively manipulate the story via the choices made in their dialogue options or watch as the dual protagonists make all the important decisions on their own. This new, optional "Canon Mode" seems tactically placed to address specifically veteran fans of the original design concept of the franchise while at the same time allowing for rich, pre-established deep character development with its heroes.
The franchise, which is known for its action-adventure core gameplay built around stealth, first emerged in 2007 during the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 years. While the early games stuck fairly closely to the action-adventure genre, the series took a significant turn towards action-RPG play starting with 2017's Origins, which featured a massive gear system. Successor games like Odyssey and Valhalla continued to bolster the RPG model, adding branching choice-driven conversations. This announcement created fiery debate among the committed fan base regarding the overall trajectory of the series. As the next major installment is due to be published on February 14, 2025, high levels of interest still surround its finished gameplay plan.
Development Team AMA Insights
Key members of the Assassins Creed Shadows development team recently addressed the community in a Reddit AMA ("Ask Me Anything") session. As a result of this forum, they explained some of the major design points, including narrative control schemes, immersion in general, and the world map design.
The Role of Dialogue and Canon Mode
Creative Director Jonathan Dumont answered a fan's query on how in-game choices influence overall playthrough story. He explained that player choice will not significantly alter the characters' ultimate set goals but will have influence over secondary elements, including:
Recruitment: The ability to persuade or induct non-player characters (NPCs) into the player's circle.
Romance: Wielding influence over relationship and romantic outcomes along the way.
For those who desire a decisions-free story experience, Dumont made certain to implement the use of Canon Mode. This is a mode that allows players to have an optimized, decision-free experience with entirely pre-determined choices, essentially the writers' intended, "canonical" story of the heroes.
Bridging the Gaps Between Older and Newer Fans
The official announcement of the Canon Mode at the AMA was met with great enthusiasm in the fandom. The long-time fans of the franchise have always desired a mainline game in the traditional environment of feudal Japan. Having the ability to optionally turn off one of the more recent RPG-influenced aspects of the series is a strong appeal to gamers who favor the raw action-adventure style of earlier titles.
With the deployment of this two-pronged strategy, the studio clearly attempts to blend the franchise's old-school ways with its contemporary RPG-centric gameplay, and thereby appeal to the broadest base of audience.
Scale and Immersion in Assassins Creed Shadows
Other than the storyline structure, developers provided significant information about the size of the map and scale of the surroundings so that enthusiasts would be able to connect the extent of this new world.
Map Size Comparison
Talking about questions surrounding the world size of Assassins Creed Shadows compared to other titles, Dumont made a simple comparison:
The scale of the environment will be comparable to that of the latest games.
The map of feudal Japan's size has been confirmed to be approximately 80 square kilometers.
This measurement comes with reference to the scope and population of the place of Assassin's Creed Origins, providing followers with a familiar point of reference.
This massive 80 square kilometer world surrounding dual leads Yasuke and Naoe is set to be an extensive and immersive sandbox for both action and stealth gameplay, further cementing the game as a flagship entry in the esteemed history of the franchise.
