Set up Assassin's Creed Shadows for blind and low-vision players
Combine screen narration, guided mode, audio cues, aiming assists, and simplified combat—with clear caveats for fully blind play.
Topics:
- Game-specific guide
- Assassin's Creed Shadows
- Screen narration
- Guided mode
- Audio cues
Key points
- Game: Assassin's Creed Shadows
- Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and Mac
- Best for: low-vision players; blind players who can test with caveats
- Time needed: about 15–25 minutes for initial setup
Category: Game-specific guide
Assassin's Creed Shadows has an unusually broad set of useful options, but it is not confirmed as fully playable without sight. This setup aims to improve access to menus, objectives, combat, and story while exposing barriers early enough for you to decide whether you need assistance or should use a refund option.
Step by step
- Start with screen narration. Open the Audio menu and enable Screen Narration. Ubisoft says it can read menus and HUD elements, while the accessibility spotlight says many time-sensitive elements can also be narrated. Confirm that settings, map/HUD information, and alerts are actually read on your platform and in your language.
- Choose guided exploration and a gentle start. Enable Guided Exploration Mode or Guided Mode, and consider Story difficulty while learning the systems. Guided mode streamlines parts of exploration; it does not automatically make terrain and buildings accessible, but it reduces how much you must discover without support.
- Enable audio cues and learn the glossary. Turn on Audio Cues in the sound settings and review the Audio Glossary. Ubisoft describes cues for navigation and pathfinding. Hands-on sources mention nearby loot, aiming, climbable surfaces, and grappling-hook actions among the supported situations.
- Use objective markers with small corrections. A blind player writing for Inviocean reports that the screen reader can announce distance when the camera faces a tracked objective. Distance does not always account for terrain, walls, or doorways. If the number stops falling, stop, turn the camera slightly, and try a short movement rather than continuing straight ahead.
- Simplify combat before practising. Set Aim Assistance to Full if you need maximum help, enable the lock-on camera, choose simplified melee, and set Quick Time Events to Auto. These settings reduce precise and combined inputs, but you must still listen for enemies and manage real-time positioning.
- Make the story easier to follow. Enable audio descriptions for cinematics. Use Conversation Log if you miss a line, and open Tutorials in the Codex when a menu or mechanic is unclear. These features improve story access but do not replace navigation during free gameplay.
- Tune the HUD and sound for low vision. Increase text and icon size, add backgrounds behind HUD elements, adjust contrast and colours, and use separate audio sliders to bring speech and important cues forward. Change one area at a time and test in the same scene so you can compare the result.
- Test one complete short mission segment. Check menus, map/HUD, objective tracking, a doorway or building, climbing, loot, stealth, and combat before deciding. Fully blind players may still encounter open-world barriers. Save often, and use a demo, subscription, or refund option if your platform offers one.
Short checklist
Screen narration, guided exploration, Story difficulty, audio cues and glossary, full aim assist, lock-on, simplified melee, QTE Auto, and audio descriptions. Test terrain and doorways before relying on objective distance.