I would like to see:

  • Some varied locations not just different varieties of the medieval town.
  • Non-male and non-human playable characters.
  • Something other than a skill tree progression system (unlikely I'm sure).
  • Meaningful side quests. Red Dead Redemption 2 comes to mind as having a lot of varied and interesting side quests, though it's not a 'fantasy RPG'. Even Witcher 3 had too many 'use witcher senses to track and kill this thing' quests.
  • Humor, wit, whimsy.
  • Meaningful gear upgrades that require some choice on what to equip rather than just using the weapon with the best attack power with 1-2 accessories that are situational only on the hardest battles.
  • Some form of the job system, even if it is just that the characters are stronger in certain areas (healing, magic, tanking, etc.).
  • A charismatic villain who gets some real screen time and development (this one seems hopeful). Also some meaningful side villain characters.