Sorcerer
Member
Absolutely. Remember there's absolutely no shame in looking up a couple of near-essential side-quest rewards. They don't just give you piddly things but rewards that make the game a lot kinder!
Actually I spent the first week and a half playing the game just doing the side quests on the advice of Nic Rox (Warning!!! A Huge Podcast), before I attempted the main story.
You can do an amazing amount without advancing the story too much and ultimately the rewards/weapons found made the game a breeze to play through and much more enjoyable.