But I didn't have the same experience with Expedition : Rome tbh.
There are too much random events imo but there are a very limited number of them that ended on combats in my 1,5 playthrough. I played it at release and I really didn't have a lot of them. Maybe I was lucky with my choices.
The problem with "non-combat" encounters in E:R is that there are too few of them, but they are too often. Wnen you have dosen encounters with your party member falling into a trap with only difference in which patry member will be injured this time... Or it variation "party member X was bitten by scorpion". Its neither fun nor interresting to get the same encounter again and again and again... Its not good when you have random encounter, start reading its text and think "oh, this again".
That said, I don't really understand the difference between visual combats and random encounters. With exceptions for story/quests reasons, most games I can think of have "combats for combats".
(to name a few in BG3 : the minotaurs, the spiders+ettercap, the gnolls after the bridge, the mephits).
If I see enemy blocking my way and I am not in mood for fighting I may choose to turn around and go other direction. Or try different route. Or try to sneak. I also see what enemy I will be dealing with and how much enemies are there.
In random encounter game just suddenly throw in my face bunch of mobs and "have fun"... I usually dont
