You don’t have to do anything in the “dreamworld” though you’ll be forced to go through it at least once. What should be happening is that you go on missions every day and the non-expiring story missions from your party members advance the overall story. Through those missions, you go and collect the necessary things to launch the final mission.
I completed the game a few months ago. In some ways it’s bad, in others it’s one of my favorites. My most important takeaway is that this isn’t a game you play for the gameplay. In terms of gameplay, the scavenging and base building are pretty good but get repetitive, the gunplay is passable but dragged down by bad enemy AI.
What’s amazing is the atmosphere and the visuals. I was blown away by the visuals, it’s such an accurate representation of what all those Soviet buildings looked like. I recognized specific pieces of furniture and posters, it’s that accurate. The environments in the game were like taking a time machine ride. The overall atmosphere is also very good, it’s desolate, it’s sad, it’s creepy. I also liked the “memory trips” through which story clues were delivered.
Oh and some of the characters you recruit get interesting - it’s worth having conversations with them at the base. Disclosure, I played in Russian and the game’s definitely better with a knowledge of Russian and the Soviet culture, there’s multiple references in there.
I also think any comparisons to Stalker should be avoided and are unhelpful. Chernobylite has nothing to do with Stalker except for being set in the Chernobyl Zone. The two games are not in the same genre, they don’t play similarly. The only thing in common is that they’re set in the same geographic area, and even then with a focus on different parts of it.