Checking bodies is absolutely crucial for staying alive and progressing. Dead enemies always carry essential stuff like meds, ammo and anti-rad drugs, which you'll desperately need later. The really valuable ones have pdas with info about hidden stashes and rare artifacts that boost your stats. Pretty interesting how enemies in different areas carry specific loot matching nearby threats, so after a big fight you definitely want to search everyone.

Bodies aren't random either, they're placed smart with stuff you'll need for whatever's coming up next, like finding bandages near mutant territories or artifacts close to anomaly fields. Getting lazy about searching corpses means missing critical resources, especially during emissions when you can't backtrack easily. Sure it's annoying to stop and search mid-combat, but with how harsh the resource system is, thorough looting saves tons of backtracking and keeps you supplied when things get tough. Just remember to check quickly but carefully since some quest-critical items are easy to miss if you rush.