Ayuh - there'll always be people who just play it through, and people who actually live the experience. It's just that even after I played the game, and up until the moment I read Fizzii's post, I didn't realise it was THAT kind of game - or rather, THAT kind of part of the game. When playing a fantasy game, you don't expect to actually solve a separate mystery - rather, it gets solved as you go along, maybe requiring you some deduction. What I mean is, the extent of the required deduction is not at all what you expect from this kind of gane, so you're on a totally different mental track.
Anyway, I agree - lots of mileage. And don't get me wrong - I did LOVE the game. Guess such non-linearity's not my cup(pit) of tea, I like to see everything...