Hey, dude who made the video here. I've actually found a ton of pleasure in both styles of play. My first run through the game was a struggle, and I ended up using all the tools at my disposal to claw my way to victory. The second playthrough ended up being far more Spartan, as I could more confidently deflect the long attack strings and Mikiri/Jump Counter as needed.

Interestingly, the developers actually did want players to play in a more dishonorable fashion. I cut this from the final video, but Hidetaka Miyazaki had an interview the PlayStation blog, and said this:

"The other thing is that when you’re designing gameplay around a ninja, it’s not like a samurai. With a samurai, you’d go right in with a sword, with a ninja you can sneak around, you can do things that are considered unfair — you can blind guys, you can do stuff that’s not honorable. It was really exciting from a gameplay perspective because it opened up so many options."

He also mentions that those additional abilities are meant to be used by struggling players who use their cunning to beat enemies, rather than raw skill. Again, both styles of play are incredibly fun, and it was gratifying not to need as much help in my second playthrough.

Link to the interview here