I knew Ninja Gaiden II would be violent and bloody. I'd read Nick Breckon's impressions, which detailed limbs falling from the sky. I'd seen the multiple screenshots and videos depicting the gallons of blood and severed limbs that litter the battlefields. I thought I knew what to expect. I thought I was prepared, that I would be able to sit there and view the on-screen violence objectively, without surprise, without a giant smile creeping across my face.

I was wrong.

It started off rather simply, with a severed arm and blood squirting everywhere. Lead character Ryu, under the control of Team Ninja head Tomonobu Itagaki, chopped off both of an enemy's legs and, in one smooth motion, decapitated him before he had time to fall over. After the battle, Ryu flicked his sword to clear it of the excess blood.

Up against an endless horde of baddies that seemed more than eager to lose their limbs, Itagaki appeared invincible, slicing an arm off here, severing a leg or two there. But then, something surprising happened. One of the dudes who had lost an arm rushed Ryu and tackled him to the ground. Then, with his gaping wound still squirting blood, he attempted to drive a sword through Ryu's neck with his one remaining hand.

In response, Itagaki did what any good ninja would do. He threw a giant fireball that blew the one-armed bandit across the stage and left his corpse in flames. As the demonstration continued, he showed off a number of tools at Ryu's disposal--a bow and arrow used to pick off jumping enemies, a giant scythe that seems to severe a limb with every swing, a set of Wolverine-esque claws and accompanying bladed boots--but none that packed the same eye-opening oomph as that fiery explosion.

Just like that, the demonstration ended. The renowned game designer, who is known to be notoriously difficult with the gaming press, paused for a moment. He removed his trademark sunglasses and rubbed his eyes. Then he threatened to cut me in half.

Shack: I just saw a one-armed enemy hop on top of Ryu and attempt to drive a sword through his neck. How much damage can those guys take?

Tomonobu Itagaki: They can basically keep fighting until they are completely in pieces. A one-armed enemy will still fight.

Shack: Does that mean you can cut an enemy in half and they'll still crawl around?

Tomonobu Itagaki: You wanna try? We can probably find a sword somewhere [laughter]. We have to be realistic to a certain extent.

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Shack: Even though it's far from complete, I notice that Ninja Gaiden II already has a much more robust tutorial than the previous game. For example, there are now movies that demonstrate actions instead of just text.

Tomonobu Itagaki: The first game was great and had a lot of depth, but we weren't necessarily able to get everyone up to the level of skill where they could use everything the game had to offer.

Here we really want to make sure that everyone is on an even playing field, so to speak, in order to get through the game. It's a tutorial, but you still feel like you're being a badass ninja.

Shack: What other concessions have been made for those not as skilled in the ways of Ninja Gaiden?

Tomonobu Itagaki: There are four levels of difficulty all together. The easiest one is called "The Path of the Acolyte." We're doing a lot of special considerations to players who play on that difficulty level to make it a little more accessible.

Shack: Can you be a bit more specific?

Tomonobu Itagaki: Some elements of the game design in and of itself are different on Acolyte. It's really meant for people who want to see as much of the game as possible, and that's their main goal.

I really think that this game is fun, just playing it, just killing enemies is fun in and of itself. The upper three levels are for people who have played Ninja Gaiden and consider themselves fans; they just don't want to see the whole game, they want to kick its ass. They want to beat it in the best way possible. There have been several tweaks that have been made to cater to both types of gamer.

What I want to stress to your readers is that The Path of the Acolyte difficulty level in Ninja Gaiden II is not like Ninja Dog mode from Ninja Gaiden Black. In Ninja Gaiden Black, Ninja Dog difficulty was basically artificially boosted. You would get healing items on a regular basis for free to help you get through the game, so it was almost like performance-enhancing drugs.

That's not the way it should be. Difficulty should be adjusted not through indirect methods, like a Band-Aid on top, but through more direct methods--things that will make the player feel like they want to get further, to see more of the game, and assist them in a way that isn't artificially changing the rules.

Shack: Are you planning any sort of downloadable content?

Tomonobu Itagaki: Yeah, we're definitely thinking about downloadable content. In the past, when I've said I've been thinking about something, there have been times when I haven't followed through. This time, you can rest assured that I'll follow through.

It'll be something that'll make you say, "Whoa."

Turn the page for additional Xbox Live talk, Itagaki's take on recent action games, Yoda and Darth Vader in Namco Bandai's Soul Calibur IV, and more.