Assassin's Creed Shadows includes a "canon mode" without narrative choices, which is probably the best way to handle story options when you're replaying memories

Assassin’s Creed Shadows will take a fresh approach to how it handles branching story, by offering a mode “that allows a choice-free narrative”.

Developers behind Shadows revealed the game would feature a “canon mode” via a reddit Q&A last night, in answer to questions from fans around how the game will balance the ability to make narrative decisions with fans’ desire for a single representation of how Shadows’ ‘historical’ narrative plays out.

Canon has always been a hot topic among Assassin’s Creed fans, partly due to the fact its labyrinthine web of lore is portrayed as a definitive secret history of the real world (albeit one where secret societies, magic artefacts and being able to see enemies through walls are all real), and because you are typically meant to see this history by reliving memories of someone there at the time.

Early Assassin’s Creed games leant into this fantasy by rewarding players for perfectly “synchronising” with memories of the past. Later games offered more latitude, however, particularly those developed by Shadows’ talented Quebec team, which built up elements of player choice.