Canon mode is a setting in Assassins Creed Shadows. Like all the familiar boot-up settings subtitle preferences, game difficulty, immersive mode, guided exploration mode, and so on youll choose whether or not to activate it before starting a new game. But the thing is, once you select it, you cant change it. Youre locked in.Below, lets get into what canon mode is in Assassins Creed Shadows, alongside some thoughts on whether or not its best to play in canon mode.What is canon mode in Assassins Creed Shadows?Canon mode in Assassins Creed Shadows will remove certain dialogue options (see above) from the game that allow you to influence the story in one way or another. Instead, youll be watching the story play out without having the option to affect it.The introduction of these sorts of dialogue choices in Assassins Creed was a somewhat divisive one when it first appeared in Assassins Creed Odyssey; in that game, the player would sometimes be presented with multiple dialogue options, and choosing from those options would affect the story. (Valhalla also had some of this; Mirage did not.)Assassins Creed Shadows splits the difference by introducing canon mode. If you dont play in canon mode, youll be presented with various moments when your character can choose from dialogue options that can slightly alter the course of the story. If you play in canon mode, you wont be presented with those moments.Should you play canon mode in Assassins Creed Shadows?I chose to play Assassins Creed Shadows in canon mode, so that means I never have the option to choose any dialogue at all. Instead, Im just watching cutscenes in which the story plays out the way that it was meant to, within the overarching fiction of Assassins Creed as a series and thats how I want it to be, personally. I want to see the story that the writers of this game have set up to be the intended version.This has resulted in a couple of moments when its obvious that I would have been presented with a choice that I dont actually get to make, though.For example, during the The Perfect Gift main story mission, as Naoe, you have to select from three possible gifts to present to someone important (leaving them unidentified here for spoiler purposes). When not playing in canon mode, heres what that choice looks like.I didnt get to choose this gift myself, although if I had the option, I wouldve chosen the one that Naoe ended up picking (an antique bamboo tea ladle). Instead, I got to watch her select the gift, and then as I forged ahead in the questline, I watched her present it to its recipient.Similarly, there have been moments where Assassins Creed Shadows presents a choice but its really just an illusion. For instance, early on, you need to decide whether or not to let Junjiro, a young child, stay at your Hideout, an enclave of stab-happy individuals possessing very sharp blades. Regardless of what you choose, Junjiro stays at the Hideout. I was never presented with this choice, and yet the outcome is the same as everyone whos playing with canon mode turned off.I dont feel like Im missing out on anything by having chosen to play in canon mode, but if youre the sort of person who really enjoyed the dialogue options in Odyssey and Valhalla, you shouldnt activate it. On the other hand, if you prefer to see the story play out on its own in the way it does in early Assassins Creed games (and in 2023s Mirage), then canon mode is the right selection for you.Just starting Assassins Creed Shadows? Beyond our full Assassins Creed Shadows walkthrough, here are explainers on how long to beat the game and when you unlock Yasuke, plus if you should play immersive or guided exploration modes.