Ubisoft has revealed that it's including something it calls "Canon Mode" in upcoming action RPG Assassin's Creed Shadows, and if you've ever wondered which dialogue option your character would actually pick, this one's for you.
In a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) session, creative director Jonathan Dumont says Canon Mode was included to address the fact that Assassin's Creed's fanbase is "divided on branching dialogues".
If you select Canon Mode, then dialogue choices will be made for you so that you don't have to worry about whether what you're doing is in character or not. Dumont says this should give players a "choice free experience", which feels like a slightly odd way of wording it.
When it comes to the length of the game, Dumont says that while it's "hard to evaluate" such things in open-world games due to player variables, he thinks Shadows' main campaign is "comparable to Origins/Odyssey and Valhalla" in terms of length.
Again, that feels like a slightly odd answer to give when considering that these three games take different amounts of time to beat. Origins' campaign sits at around 25-30 hours, while Odyssey's takes about 45 hours and Valhalla's can take up to 60.
Suffice it to say that you're probably not in for a short ride with Assassin's Creed Shadows, so hopefully it doesn't have the same level of bloat that Odyssey and Valhalla could often exhibit.
The AMA offers plenty of other interesting information about Assassin's Creed Shadows; it'll feature an "immersive mode" with a full Japanese voiceover, for instance, and its modern story will be "limited" and connected to the new Animus Hub, although we'll get more on this "later".
Assassin's Creed Shadows is the latest mainline installment in the long-running Assassin's Creed series. Set in Sengoku-era Japan, it'll follow the RPG stylings of the likes of Odyssey and Valhalla and not the back-to-basics approach of last year's Mirage.
Since its announcement, the game has garnered its fair share of controversy. Some players objected to the inclusion of historical figure Yasuke as one of the main playable characters, an inclusion Ubisoft says demonstrates its ability to take "creative license" to construct "engaging and immersive experiences".
Assassin's Creed Shadows also prompted outcry when a concept art book was found to have appropriated images from a Japanese group without permission, and when an "insensitive" figurine depicting a one-legged Torii gate was pulled from sale in October.
You'll be able to check out Assassin's Creed Shadows when it launches on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S in February next year, having been delayed from its original November release date.
