...where I can die frequently and/or paint myself into a corner by ending up somewhere only to realize there was an item I should have found way way back that I need now?

Considering getting this game for its story & minimal turn-based combat. Just not sure yet based on the above. I mean, I can always follow a guide if need be, but I kinda wanna know if I'll need a guide first.

There definitely aren't dead ends, since you can revisit most of the locations, with different followers if you wish. Different parts of the main quest take place on different planets, and there's this space station that serves as a hub from which you can travel to those planets you've visited. There are certain locations you can only visit once, but they're fairly linear and straightforward, with nothing you can accidentally miss. The main plot is easy to follow, but there's a plethora of optional hidden weapons and other upgrades that require specific characters to access and for which you may want to consult a guide, but only in your second playthrough. Even the combat is very easy; if you have at least the faintest grasp of basic tactics, you won't die more than two or three times in the entire game. All in all, the game is pretty much focused on the plot and easy questing, not convoluted puzzles.

The only things I can think of that can actually be "missed" are some optional quests that eventually lead to a powerful end-game item. These quests are a chain so if you miss the early ones then you can't do the later ones. But other than that I think you can always to back to previous areas to find stuff you missed. BUT, you cannot do that at all times... at certain points you will only have access to some areas, but later you'll be able to return to any place you've been before (with rare exceptions like Charon121 mentioned).

And you definitely won't be dying a lot. The game's not too heavy on combat, with the focus mainly on the story, chatting with people are solving the odd puzzle.

Sounds a bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure with RPG elements...definitely something I could get into!

It's closest to an Japanese-style RPG, actually... albeit one where the focus has shifted away from battling and more to talking to people and exploring areas. Also it's really funny.

Just Get it already!

Kristian gifted it to me a day or two ago, can't wait to try it!

You might find the start quests a bit slow (there's a bit of 'catch and carry'), but the storyline is really good. Shame there hasn't been a sequel yet.

I just finished it and I gave it 5 stars. Wonderful game.

The only things you can mess up (afaik) is the rebel missions if you choose to turn in the rebel leader and there are four or five TACOs and some cobalt crawlers you can't get if you miss them the first time around.

From what I remember:
[spoiler]



You can never re-try the evil spaceship or the character-specific crashlanding-levels on Democratus afterwards.
The one from Boots houses at least one cobalt crawler you get after getting all the questions right in a side quest near the end.(?) I'm unsure about the others.
You can (logically) never go back to the research station after the accident, there is at least one TACO there...
Breaking the elevator at the starport on Anachronox shuts you out of a taco I think (this is the only one I missed)
I'm unsure if you can go back to all the levels beneath the monastery; can't remember if there is anything important down there...



[/spoiler]

Also, remember to go back into the mystech tunnels after each big plot point, new and powerfull stuff spawns there, including the optional super-boss...

As far as getting all the TACOs are concerned, I wouldn't worry about it if you missed one in an area you can't get back to, since there's this bug where sometimes (often) when you go back to a previous area, all previous items reappear - this includes the TACOs! I think by the end of the game I had about 23 out of 20...

Apart from the Rebel missions, the ones from that inspector guy (forget his name now) are most likely only available at certain points. Doing his missions gives you some nice things, but nothing that you can't eventually buy from the shops AFAIK (but you do get them sooner through his missions).

Actually I think if you do all of the missions for the inspector you get a unique reward at the end. So it's worth doing all of those.

That's what I was thinking of. I do believe it's the only way to get Master Lockpick, which can then be used to nab some powerful items.

I just completed the game an hour ago.

I never experienced lots of deaths, even though I had it on hard difficulty. I only died (not the kind I can use Tears to fix) about 11 times in the game, including deaths in the mini-games. Honestly, the combat is not hard. You can save at lots of places, but hard difficulty does limit you to using the creatures to save - they're everywhere. As for penalizing you for not having XYZ because you forgot to get XYZ, I never really experienced that either. However, the game does have some leeway when deciding to start a new plot pojnt. There're one or two places where you have to make you're prepared. At least in one case it informs you to not go further until you're confident you're ready for it. It doesn't say what you need. It's not anything specific anyway, so much as it's making sure you have enough Healgrease and Tears and (customized too) Mystech and levels. Again, I only know of one or maybe two places where this matters. In almost all of the game, as long as you follow the plot, you'll have enough levels to win. I say all this on hte assumption you'll play on hard difficulty, as I did.

I never redid old areas on purpose. This is not like an MMO where you grind old places.