[General Discussion] An Ideal RPG?

*Turn based or real time battle systems
I'd prefer a mixture, like the ATB system or Baldur's Gate's pause-anytime feature. Ideally, the engine would be customizable like those systems to allow players to make things more or less real-time as they see fit.

*Male or Female lead
Male seems pretty standard; while there's something to be said for letting you choose a gender, that does get in the way of storyline development.

*A single main character or party array
Definitely a party array. And not one of those parties made up of computer-controlled characters either--you should be able to control everyone's actions or leave them on autopilot.

*General Theme? (e.g. Futuristic or medievil)
Modern or near-modern. 90% of RPG's are medieval/steampunk, 10% are sci-fi, hardly any feature a modern setting. In addition to originality, such a setting would force some interesting plot and game engine dynamics.

*Should there be transition between field screen to battle screen, or should battles take place on the field itself
I could go either way on this. Suffice to say, any transition should be as seamless as possible, without abrupt fades or wipes.

*Should it feature a world map, or should areas be interlinked/ linear
Definitely a world map. Interlinked/linear RPG's almost always feel tiny and constrained, no matter how many actual areas they have.

*Should there be more focus in RPGs - in other words, intergrating more gameplay genres - such as sport, racing, etc. Okay you see this in mini games, but should there be a grander focus?
No. A possible exception might be transportation on the world map--driving, flying, etc. or minigames, but trying to cram too many genres into a game dilutes it.

*Cut out the cliched elements such as 'romantic love stories' or 'save the world storyline?' or the 'annoyingly pathetic heroine who is always in distress' - How would you go about changing these cliches?
Simple--make the love stories optional, based on your character interactions or moves within the storyline. Better yet, place the hero in distress and remove them from the party.

*Should it be more about gameplay than storyline?
No. Gameplay's extremely important, but without an engrossing storyline, there's no point. It becomes an exercise in elementary statistics.

*Weaponry - What would you have, what would you cut out...like the main character almost always has a sword, and the heroine is a weakling with a staff
Guns, guns, guns. Not enough RPG's use firearms, especially as main character weapons (even if the setting demands it, as in Star Ocean). Firearms also bring additional variables to the table--ammunition, etc.--that make for interesting situations.

*What would be an ideal battle engine - combos, limit breaks, magic system stc - how would you like it
That would depend on the engine, of course. I prefer systems that are combo-optional, in which button presses lead to more damage but are not crucial. RPG's aren't fighting games, after all. As far as magic goes, I'm not sure I'd use it--but it's hard to come up with anything other than the standard MP-or-equivalent bar.

Jam it back in, in the dark.