I found the fistfighting QTE bearable but that's about it, so glad to hear they're away.
I was pretty pissed at the import of TW1->TW2, so I could care less about that.
The game being open world does'nt sit well with me, it's one thing to sit there in their couch proclaming this and that and criticize Skyrim, but I doubt they'll do a better job at it in the end. It does give me a spark of hope that they'll manage it, but I'm still doubtfull.
I'm pretty certain that the world will feel cramped, the only continous gameworlds I've not felt cramped in was ARMA 2, Morrowind(For some reason) and FUEL(~15000 km2) from the top of my head.
The rest does sound good though, especially the hunting part is promising!