Team Ninja has announced that it will be removing the ability to decapitate and dismember the limbs of your adversaries in their upcoming title Ninja Gaiden 3. What do I have to say to that? AHHHHHHHHH!! That is all.

But no really, it kind of bothers me, especially in a series like Ninja Gaiden where blood and gore should be bolded and underlined in the ESRB rating. Doing so is like removing content from the game, especially when some of Ryu Hyabusa’s critical finishes or one-hit kill moves involved removing their head.

Normally, I’m the type of person that would say ‘it’s not a big deal” and let it slide, but what erks me even more is their reasoning behind it. A Team Ninja staff member told IGN in an interview that they removed it because “they don’t think people want to see it” because it’s been done before. What the heck does that mean!? Might as well tell me Mario can’t jump anymore because we’ve seen it already.

I guess turning down the violence is in some essence acceptable, but for absurd reasons like that? Ninja Gaiden was never a truly “realistic” game and the dismemberment of limbs was always a cool feature considering your arsenal included knives, swords, and a scythe the size of a mini van. Take a look at, Mortal Kombat 9. It’s extremely successful, and they didn’t remove the violent fatalities just because “we’ve seen it before”. And they’re so absurdly violent that I laugh more than anything to the gore it has to offer.

Whether this change is acceptable is up to the fans, and as one of their fans, I don’t think it is. I’m a strong believer in the phrase “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.”