When starting your adventure in Assassin’s Creed Shadows, you’ll be presented with three separate mode options, each of which can be toggled on and off. Let’s go over what each of the modes does and how it will affect your gameplay in Assassin’s Creed Shadows.
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How does Guided Exploration mode work?
In Assassin’s Creed Shadows, when Guided Exploration mode is enabled, you will be given a precise marker that shows where to go to complete certain mission objectives and where to find requisite mission items. When Guided Exploration mode is turned off, you will instead get markers indicating the general area in which objectives can be completed. Once there, though, it’s up to you to explore and interact with the NPCs in that area to find where exactly you’re supposed to go.
If you’re wondering if you should play with Guided Exploration mode on or off, I recommend trying to play with it off. It’s a much more rewarding experience, as it makes the entire world of Shadows much more realistic and immersive. Additionally, if you find it to be too difficult, you can always choose to turn Guided Exploration mode on at any time. I didn’t find things to be too difficult with it disabled, so I recommend trying with it off first.
Also, enabling Guided Exploration mode will disable some achievements/trophies, so if you’re worried about full completion, make sure to keep it off!
Canon mode explained
As for Canon mode, it basically locks you to the authentic “canon” version of Assassin’s Creed Shadows in terms of choices and dialogue. Instead of being presented with various choices such as whether to play as Yasuke or Naoe for certain segments, or presenting you with dialogue options, the game instead defaults to what it considers canon for the Assassin’s Creed storyline.
Should you play canon mode or not?
Unfortunately, this cannot be toggled on or off once you start the game, and you must start a completely new game save in order to switch this mode. I personally turned this mode off, as I wanted to be able to make the choices I wanted to make, as well as choose when to play as Yasuke and when to play as Naoe. But if you’re really interested in knowing what’s considered canon story-wise for the Assassin’s Creed lore, this is an intriguing mode.
Canon mode does not affect achievements or trophies in any way.
What does Immersive Mode do?
The Immersive Mode in Assassin’s Creed Shadows locks the voiceover language to Japanese throughout the entire game, and blends in Japanese and Portuguese dialogue as those are the two languages spoken by most of the inhabitants of this region at this time historically. It therefore creates a more immersive experience, hence the name.
Even when this mode is turned off, there will be times that certain characters may still speak Japanese or Portuguese instead of whatever voiceover language you have selected. Regardless of if you turn Immersive Mode on, any time a different language is spoken than the default you have enabled for voiceover language, captions will be presented in the language you have selected.
You can toggle Immersive Mode on or off at any time in Assassin’s Creed Shadows by heading to the Audio tab in the Settings. Immersive Mode does not affect achievements or trophies in any way.
Published: Mar 20, 2025 4:00 AM UTC