>>315025947
>if there will be any human settlements to visit and be comfy at, any NPC to take quests from
It doesn't really have either of those. It's got deadly anomalies, dangerous mutants (in their own way) but no anarchists or bandits. The only settlements are tiny unoccupied safehouses and the home base that you travel to can from any edge of the zone, which is equally devoid of life. Quests come from a terminal with no feeling of human interaction. 

The bits that feel very STALKER are travelling, hunting for artefacts and finding hidden stashes of loot. The lack of human NPCs is easily the most disappointing part of the game.