Lords of the Fallen Preview

GameSpot has cranked out a brief preview of City Interactive and Deck13's Lords of the Fallen, with some added commentary from designers Tomasz Gop and Jan Klose to help fill in the details. This sounds like it might be a bit controversial:
I know challenging and punishing sound alike, but Deck13 wants to make sure players can have one without the other. If you want to make the game challenging for yourself you're free to do so, and you will be rewarded for your efforts. But if you find yourself stuck on an especially difficult foe--or are simply uninterested in the extra challenge--Lords of the Fallen won't punish you. Instead, it gives you some tools to help odd out the evens and give yourself an edge in battle.

One example is the game's magic system. Magical abilities are extremely powerful in Lords of the Fallen, such that the developers refer to them as "Smart bombs." One example I saw was a spell that knocked enemies off their feet, letting our hero score a few free hits before his opponent could right himself. So what's stopping you from using these spells at every turn? Well, if you manage to defeat an especially challenging foe--say, a boss--without using magic, the game will reward you with extra loot or other goodies for you trouble.

"If there's an enemy you feel is tough and, for whatever reason, you get a hint from the game that there's only one way to defeat that enemy and you simply don't have the time or patience to learn it, you can use supernatural powers to defeat it that way," explained Gop. "The game still has this level of tactical approach, of complexity, but you don't have to make it punishing if you don't want to."