No question the march to the mines is tedious; they try to mix it up a few times, like the one where they are standing in a pool of oil with the barrels next to them for a good boom; but that march was painfully boring and I can't imagine playing it in 30 minute increments....yikes, would make me hesitant to return.
That said, I don't feel there are too many encounters; yes, there is too little exploration, but this game was obviously made on a pc budget and the footprint is very small by today's standards...it's the whole reason there is no running in this game as you would clear each map in seconds; even with the slow walking pace, if there were not an encounter on every 3rd screen the game would blur by.
Other than the march to the mines, there is no other stretch in the game that has that concentration...the mine itself has no mandatory fights and only 3 optional ones. Level 15 through 20-22, there a relatively few mandatory fights...still no exploration worth the name.
For me it is the crafting/ gear selection that takes the hours...the game could be speedrun in less than 8 hours or so and probably much quicker. IMO your set-up dictates long battles, replace the rogue with another caster, either pyro or hydro and, at lever 15 with meteor/ hail, encounters turn from a 10/15 minute event to being over in 2 rounds.
