One of my big gripes with the game is they set the battle scenes up with "cut scenes" that put the player at a huge disadvantage, and there is no way to avoid it.
I just did the scene with the crazy doctor, where I made sure we all went downstairs, got close up to him, but when the scene started, it showed us still on the stairs.
Many of the fight scenes are like that.

Yeah, I'm sure the people that run the game set battles up to suit themselves. I just did the Nightsong battle, and they do that cut scene that lets Balthazar situate himself like he wants, get off a spell. No matter how you try to position yourself, you can't.
You guys that run the game don't have to give yourself the advantage like that.

Just did Moonrise Towers after Nightsong battle. The cut scene, we were not where I positioned myself, my character went from 133hp to 15 in the 1st round, eventually died.
You just set the thing up to suit yourself.
This is bullshit!

Not sure what you mean. It’s not like the devs are personally benefiting when you lose a battle.

Also, if you have a higher initiative than Balthazar, which I have in the past, you can hit him with a spell that incapacitates him before he has the chance to take a turn. It’s a matter of managing your initiative and getting the upper hand that way.

And what is this crap about we can't teleport out of the Shaddowlands now?

Of course they don't. That doesn't mean they don't do things for their own enjoyment.

For that fight I snuck my party behind Balthazar. I had my rogue sneak attack him. This bypasses the cutscene and goes straight into the fight. He tied to summon his undead horde, but I was now able to counterspell it, which I did. Balthazar was left alone and relatively helpless and proceeded to beat him into paste in one turn of combat.

Listen, I did the battle again, but re positioned myself, knowing the devs were trying to fuck me with my position.
So I took the first couple of rounds, positioning my people.

In most cut scenes, you can switch to a character that is not involved in the conversation (the selection is on the left on PC) and move them around freely, if that's what is bothering you. But generally your characters get visually moved for the cut scenes and end up where they were before after the scene ends.

I don't perceive any of this as an actual "gameplay issue", frankly.

You don't always get to choose how and when to start a fight. Nor you should be able to.
In fact, at times I deliberately choose to ignore some "meta-knowledge" I may have of an upcoming battle only because it feels more fair to play it "as intended" (i.e. with your party being approached by the attacker, if not even surprised).

What pisses me off is me,looking a situation over, and moving to where I want to be, and then the game, with its cut scene, moving me to a different position.
I'm learning, though. I've seen other people's approach to different battles. so I'm learning to outwit the game itself.

I have no idea what you're talking about. The game doesn't reposition you after a cut scene. It may look like you're moving during a cutscene, but after the scene is over, you remain in the same place you were before the cutscene started.

I maintain that I have moved much closer before the cut scene starts, wanting to get up close, but I'm always at the place where the scene wants me.
I get over it, I adapt to what the game gives me, and am still playing. But I still see it as juvenile BS and the game creators ego trip.

I have never noticed this either, and I think you’re off the mark here.