It depends how slick the battle system is... and how varied. For something like FFX which had a nice battle system, where you would switch up characters/tactics depending on the enemy, then I wouldn't mind the battles... They would make up a big part of the game for me... Or a game like Resonance of Fate, where the battles were the best bit! I definitely didn't mind them then!
On the other hand, if you are in a big level, and the battles are dull and easy, then they can get on your tits! Say you are retracing in a level on a PS1-2 era JRPG, and you have to wait for the battles to load, and the battle intro to play.... then you beat it in 1-3 moves, and have to wait for the victory screen, just so you can run another 3-4 paces... that just breaks the flow of the game. Has anyone else done this before, and got so mind numbed from repetitive battles that they forgot what side quest you actually backtracked for, and had to sit and remember what you were doing?