Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode explained

One of the first choices you'll make when booting up a new save in Assassin's Creed Shadows is whether to use immersive mode, alongside the equally confusing canon mode and guided exploration. The name gives you a rough idea, but the goal of immersive mode is to make Shadows a more authentic experience when you're trundling through its lively towns and stunning vistas.

Below I'll go over exactly what the AC Shadows immersive mode actually does so you can decide whether it's the right option for you. You'll also find a sample of the Japanese voice acting in this guide, as this is predominantly what you'll hear if you switch immersive mode on.

Assassin's Creed Shadows immersive mode explained

Immersive mode sets all voice-acting to either Japanese or Portuguese, depending on the character speaking. For example, Naoe and Yasuke will speak in Japanese, alongside most other characters like your allies. Meanwhile, Portuguese characters like the Jesuit priests seen with 'Diogo' at the start of the game speak in their native tongue.

You'll still get subtitles in your own language, so you'll be able to understand what's going on–provided you can read them fast enough, which I admittedly couldn't during combat. To change your subtitles, go to the interface tab in the settings menu.

Immersive mode can be turned on or off from the audio settings menu at any time during your playthrough as well, requiring just a quick reload to take effect.

This setting is different from simply changing your voice language to Japanese, as this would turn all the voices to this language, including Portuguese characters. Immersive mode blends the two to make it more like you've stepped back in time to feudal Japan. If you're curious, you can hear some of the Japanese voice acting below:

Given the lengths Ubisoft went to when creating the landscape, from grand temples and castles to rolling hills, it only makes sense to give your audio the same treatment. With that said, immersive mode won't be for everyone–it wasn't for me. I started playing in English like I normally would, but swapped to immersive mode halfway through to give it a go. It's certainly more immersive (who'd have thought?) but I inevitably swapped back given it's not uncommon to be fighting or running around when people are talking and I quickly started to miss out on details.

Obviously, it also comes down to whether you'd rather hear English (or any other chosen language setting) or Japanese voice acting. It's the age-old sub or dub debate for anime. For the most part, I think the English voice acting is actually very good, though it can be spotty at times.