The game without blood and gore looks... bad. With that setting turned off, it should be replaced with a little puff of air or dust, in place of the blood.
I've been playing this game since before I could fully read and it might just be nostalgia or how amazed I am at how good I used to be at this game it is just such a pleasure to play. It's like Mount and Blade: Warband, it does something amazing, but on a level that's less than perfect, but it's still one of the best games I've played.