Okay, so some of the hardcore out there will condemn this move, saying it's a sell-out by the developer and a futile attempt to enlist the pansies who can't handle Ninja Gaiden 's legendary difficulty.

But director Fumihiko Yasuda told Joystiq that we must remember a few things about the controversial Hero Mode.

Firstly, it's optional. If you don't want the auto-evade and auto-block and would prefer to have the full challenge, you can do that. Secondly, the mode is in place because in the past, Yasuda believes they were losing players during the adventure; i.e., they didn't stick around long enough to finish the game. Plus, it helps to bring out the storyline. Said Yasuda:

"We really wanted to flesh out the story this time around, so we wanted people to enjoy that story and get used to the game as it is. In the past the games were really hardcore and we couldn't get players to stay with us and complete the game."

Yes, technically, that's still a concession to the massive slew of casual gamers out there, and the fact that Japanese developers continually try to find new fans by catering to Western tastes. Basically, Team Ninja doesn't want players to get frustrated by dying a million times and thus, never really feeling the story and plot. So they offer the Hero Mode; nothing wrong with that, right?

As for the rest of the game, it'll still be good ol' Ninja Gaiden , only with a lot more blood. Ryu still has superhuman speed and ability, but when he takes his mask off, "he's a human like all of us." And Tecmo doesn't want that to go unnoticed any longer.

Related Game(s): Ninja Gaiden III