I like the new AI, and although the new "hold" position does give unfair advantage to the player over the enemy, it does allow for greater flexibility in battle, so that's a go! Another interesting element is the restriction of sight in the basement, but surely given that the Hero can see the entire battlefield, the basements of the same size should be all visible to him? Or is that explained away by him concentrating extra hard during battle and getting tired relatively quickly, hence during "normal exploration" he is using the minimum of his scanning abilities?
I don't particularly like the addition of borders around areas- it makes the areas look smaller and unconnected/compartmentalised, somehow (and the idea of random chests just lying around... not sold on that - it made sense with just a couple of chests in TRPG2, but a random chest laying on the street next to the mansion isn't really that plausible- that would be something to be found in a shed, or the likes)- before that although one came across the borders, it felt almost like the Hero simply not wanting to venture outside those areas, so not really feeling limited, whilst these borders do put up a visible limitation on what the player can/cannot do. But overall- I like what I see!