I agree with pretty much every point Dan has made.

I like random battles better than visible enemies, personally. But as Trix pointed out, if they were to mix it, that can work even better if pulled off right. But without random battles at all, I find myself slightly annoyed. I mean, the fact that someone might know where their next enemy is going to be because they've played the game before, that kinda sucks. Maybe they should set it up so that monsters are a bit more free-roaming and don't always spawn in the same place. Maybe make them able to jump out of bushes, too, stuff like that.

I would love it if they were to make an RPG that allows you to move around on an island a la modern FPS games. None of this "Oh, it's a jungle, you can't walk there unless you stay on THIS path..." crap. I want to be able to walk through a forest wondering if some strange, camouflaged enemy is going to suddenly jump down from the branches.

World maps really do need to be brought back. None of the FFX/XII crap where you can go to only specific areas, and to get from one area to another you follow a set path. No, I want to go anywhere I want. I want to be able to grab a car and shoot off through the hills on set roads, but be able to park the car, lock it and go off into the wilderness if I so choose. Maybe get a four wheel drive if I don't want random battles while off road. I want to be able to discover hidden caves, I want to be able to find out where there are some neat enemies, to find secret treasures and to be able to fly through the skies and sail through the seas, watching the world turn beneath me. Yes, a COMPLETE world - spherical, you can see the poles and everything.

I can't wait for the day when you can actually travel a globe in FPS-style detail. I'm always eager to do that.

I want more to the battles. I don't want everyone to be exactly the same, all just as good as each other at whatever. I want people to have roles. Maybe they might not be fixed so that Aeris IS ALWAYS a mage, but fixed by choice, so that when you start a new game or find a new character, you can choose what role they take and they have to stick with it. None of this "Someday I will have all my stats at 255 so I will have a Magical Fighter Monk of Doom" or whatever. Players should always have weaknesses. But yeah, the players should be able to do new things other than just Item, Fight, Steal, Magic. They should be able to work together, combine their magic somehow, etc. Maybe have magic sorted by elements, so that player X has good fire magic but player Y has good water magic, and so on. Try new things! Allow players to interact with the environment they are in when dealing with enemies, hiding behind trees or setting branches on fire and using them to keep enemies at bay, lighting fire to the ground between you and the enemy, all these sorts of things. Give enemies weak points. Not obvious ones - things like "if you attack this enemy from behind, you'll do more damage" ...but, here's the trick, DON'T TELL THE PLAYER. Don't make it have a special target on it's back. Don't have a player shout out "HEY IT IS WEAKER ON THE BACK." Have it a set option for players to focus on certain tactics, such as aiming for neck, feet, anything. All of these things could work.

What else... I dunno, I'm done for now. I'm sure there's loads more but that's just a sample.