The bots don't have any artificial advantages; In fact they have a disadvantage of being unable to surrender, so in general they are more likely to die recklessly, but yes, sometimes you will run into one that had the smoothest run and outlevels you.
Good suggestions for the sorting and default team, will add to the to-do. Party management is a bit janky now.
I agree that I need to make the game's asynchronous-ness a bit less blatant.
Releasing taking a turn is indeed intended - you do get some experience for releasing so it's not that much of a setback. Think of it as a compensation when you need to rest. I usually grab Automons even if they have no purpose because I know I might want to just use them as a rest fodder. The exp given isn't anywhere near as good as battling but if you need to rest, you might as well trash your fodder
Music will certainly be added before next DD version
Thanks for playing!