I agree, that ZKR is kind of complicated, when you play it the first time. But, you got 14 days for the run, and once you learned to decide between important quests and surplus fights - e.g. you do need the poppy-charm from Moron - you have enough time, to save Fort Cavalier. There are always time-reminder dialogue boxes and warnings, when you enter a dead end.
The scenario would lose a lot, when it would be shorter. I appreciate the so called fillers, they allow you, to play it several times and to discover different ways to fulfil the main question.
The only thing, I dislike: you can't go back to follow the side quests after passing Koth's place ...
So ZKR makes you run - more than once.