The Perfect RPG

I'm particular when it comes to my games. One could say I have high standards, others could say I'm picky. Either way, it takes a lot to really "Wow" me. RPG's are the toughest for me. It takes me a little while to get into them, and once I do, I'd better not want to leave. RPG's are at a disadvantage too, given that a good RPG has at least 30+ hours of gameplay in them. In that amount of time, (depending on the gamer) other games may be released as distractions. There are a few elements to RPG's that make them able to stand the test of other game releases, making you able to persist through the tedious moments (They're RPGs, at one point they all get tedious),  and making you want to possibly play again.

Here is (in my opinion) the perfect RPG.

Story

Setting:
A story's setting has to be believable. I don't mind if a setting is unrealistic, or fantasy, futuristic, etc. etc. As long as they stick with a theme, and make everything make sense within that theme, it works. I don't want to see some ridiculously buff creature speaking with a perfect British accent. If they're going to have something brutal looking, make it sound brutal. Mass Effect had this problem, in my opinion. See something brutal looking, and it sounds like a gentleman.....

Main Character:
I'm tired of main characters who don't speak. Link has a voice, we know he does...He goes like "HYAAAAH". Bioshock 1 and 2, "Jack" and "Alpha" never talked. Fable 1 and 2. How can all of these heroes not be able to say a few words? At least Fable 3 got it right and allowed the main character to speak. Some say that they don't need to speak, but really, they aren't relate-able. These heroes had no personality. The only drive the heroes have is that of the over all objective.

Supporting Cast:
A supporting cast should help drive the story, provide side-stories, extra motivation, etc. Final Fantasy X had this DOWN. They had a fantastic supporting cast for Tidus' story. Wakka and Lulu had their past involving Chappu, Rikku being Al Bhed, Yuna's father being a kickass summoner as well. Auron, just being a beast. Th only one I had a problem with was Khimarhi. He rarely spoke, and when he did, it was little more than a sentence or two. The only time you really saw any more of a story to him was during the Mt. Gagazet area, and honestly, who gave a crap about his tribes and stuff? It seemed like such a last minute addition.

Multiple Endings:
I love it when games of all genres have multiple endings, or "New Game+" endings. It encourages playing through again. There's a right and wrong way to do multiple endings though. Bioshock did it the wrong way, in my opinion. The endings were entirely dependent on how many Little Sisters you rescued. That's just one element than you could change to get a good or bad ending. Heavy Rain (though not really an RPG) did multiple endings right. Depending on certain actions you did/didn't do, it affected how the game ended. Of course if you get the best ending the first time (like I did) there's little incentive to play again, with the exception of getting trophies you may have missed. Multiple Endings are nice, but not required.

Gameplay
Combat:
Easy to learn, difficult to master. A phrase uttered by every game designer at one point or another. When games introduce features one at a time, get you used to the system and keep adding to it, that's a good way to do it, e.g. Final Fantasy X. When games throw everything at you all at once, that's a good way to scare gamers off. e.g. Enchanted Arms (though that system wasn't TOO complicated, it still had a learning curve). Games shouldn't have to hold your hand the whole way though.

Customization:
If I'm going to be looking at a character model for hours and hours on end, at least let me change their appearance. If not the physical features, at LEAST their clothing. I can understand when certain dialogue events remark on the character's appearance, or something like that, but when it doesn't even matter what they look like, why not make the player able to decide what they look like? Oblivion did this masterfully, Mass Effect was okay...

In-world movements:
By this, I mean how well the controls are when you're not in combat (if the RPG has break-away combat) and you're just navigating the world. These controls have to be solid. Nothing bothers me more than controls that seem floaty when they shouldn't. Sorry Fable 2 and 3, here's where I have problems with you two. It feels more like you're driving the character and merely suggesting where he/she goes. You should be able to control them, solid as a rock. I push left, they go left. I push right, they go right. It's called a controller for a reason, it controls, or at least that's the original intent.

Graphics
Interface:
Menus are very frequent in RPG's. There's a lot of information that needs to be brought to the player. Stats, HP, MP, inventory, equipment, etc. All of this info needs to be able to be seen quickly, easily and smoothly. Simple interfaces are great. They function as an interface, and nothing more. Final Fantasy X (I reference it a lot, I've noticed....probably because it's one of the best RPGs ever, in my opinion) was able to nail interfaces down. Without some navigation tutorial, I was able to quickly and easily find items, equipment and able to compare my currently worn equipment with something I've picked up with ease. It's not a flashy interface, because it doesn't need to be.

In-game:
Graphics are not extremely important. Hell, people still play Final Fantasy VII even though they look like megablock characters. One thing that does kind of bother me though... it's when game developers take an existing model, color it differently and re-introduce it as a "new" enemy. FFX had this problem. At least make a new character model for a new creature. If there are memory contstraints, that's understandable, but there's still a limit to how many times I can see Flan come in different colors.

HUD:
Heads up Displays are what you'd see when you're not in a menu, but usually when you're walking around in-world. Commonly used for heal and mana, these HUDS take out some immersion value of the game. When you can clearly see a healthbar flashing red when you're almost dead, that takes away from the experience of getting sucked into a game. They do have their place in games like First Person Shooters, however they ruin the feel of RPG's, keep them out. (Fable did this well - The HUD would only show when there was a change to health or mana)

These are just a few of the ideas I've come up with for an Ideal RPG. So, Bioware, Blizzard, Wizards of the Coast, any of you RPG makers...Get to it!