I actually did get #3- the hint you already gave here was very useful, not sure I would have figured that out without just brute-forcing it.
I hadn't even noticed there was a second area to the Guest quarters, so that definitely didn't help. Cool, I should be able to finish now. Thank you so much!
Okay, I do have another question, but it's not about encounters. Am I supposed to be able to become Good Friends with everyone? I know Trudy's relationship only reaches that during the ending, but there are a couple of characters I can't find again after making friends with them, and they aren't mentioned in the ending at all. The herbalist and the NRG drink salesman. Not sure if I missed something there or not.
I definitely like the "combat" style in this game. The only real feedback I have on improving it would be to give some in-game hints as to where the more sneaky critters are (these that are specific triggers), and maybe a way to automatically opt out of combat when you are just trying to get from A to B in the long, windy paths. Something that can be turned on and off, so you can still have encounters once you get there.
Overall, my only real issue with the game is similar to what one of the other posters said- there is an encouragement to speak to all the NPCs, but a lot of the dialogue, even when the content amounts to "no real answer" is very long, which makes it frustrating to talk to everyone and get repeats. A speed control, or the ability to very quickly skip through dialogue if it has been seen before would have been really nice. I like the paced dialogue, but the tenth or so time I have seen it, it starts to grate on the nerves.
I really like the game, the mechanic for getting to other characters is unique and interesting, and the approach to the afterlife is one I have run across before, but never in a game, which made it interesting to see explored in this way. Great game