I would totally buy a Mafia-based RTS/RPG hybrid with the small scale battles of CoH or DoW2 combined with the overarching goal and the open endedness of the Total War series set, of course, in the 1930's, reaching over to about the late 1950's.
Honestly.
Just imagine it - taking over street after street, business after business, corner after corner through either muscle, coercion, bribery or diplomacy, only being able to recruit named individuals who have character, personality, special skills and, of course, a couple of faceless goons to deploy when needed during the RTS parts, moving up through the neighborhoods to the districts, and from the districts to whole cities as you try to spread your empire as far as you can.
You'd come into conflict with almost everyone, deciding how to deal with them as you go, dictating the pace of the game. Police performing too many raids, despite the fact that you buffed security and intelligence on your main guys? Then you must have a rat. Do you have a police informant you can use? Do you ignore the problem? Do you guess based on previous arrests? etc. and then - do you kill the guy? Do you simply warn him and hope that word doesn't get out?
So on and so forth obviously.
But I would kill for something like that.
Or a combat based RPG where you are just a random soldier in the middle of a war.
Yeah, you can level up and all that, but really you are just a minor player, doing what you do, surviving. Sure - you might win titles and awards for being skilled at the sword, or for guarding the right person, but really - all you will be is an invested observer.
The most you can be is someone relatively visible, like a personal bodyguard, or a knight/champion, or a companion, or even an executioner - but really, all you will be doing is watching the main players act out the events, whether you choose to affect them or not.
Vague, I know...
Say....in some sort of context, if the setting was Game of Thrones, your character would start off as 'Poorly Armored Generic Guard B' and then, much later on, might hit 'Kingsguard', or even 'Jory'.
Something along those lines.
Yup.
Normally I would be less eloquent, but fuck it.
I'm gloriously drunk and very, very tired.
BUT I would buy either of those games instantly.
EDIT: MORE ELOQUENT
Goddamn...
This is why people should NEVER let me NEAR a computer inebriated.
Thank god for spellcheck or this would be unreadable.