I haven't completed the game yet, but can't you basically murder your way through most of the game?
Not like an adventure where you can't progress at all without completing obtuse riddles.
I agree some of DOS's puzzles are little obtuse but most of it locks off optional side quest content in my experiences so far.
I'm afraid to do that because of the game-breaking bugs I've read about, but many puzzles are compulsory and part of the main story.
