OH boy..... I would like to start by saying I have been waiting for this for a VERY long time.
I think that, if your going to call int a reboot of the classic 2020 series, then you would have to include most of the following:
1) Deadly combat. If I don't have good body armor, I'm going to die after 2-4 good shots. This should have an effect on active game play (meaning i have to deal with it until i get healed), but should also be something that can have long-term effects on game play (creating the need to get chrome to be "normal" again)
-This has the added bonus of creating alternate story lines if your totally combat based vs a social based player that avoids combat, (and thusly the need for replacement parts)
2) Style. This whole game was all about style, so this would have to be a major part of the whole game. Its only logical that different stores in different places would sell different clothes. Its about more then clothes, its about hair, and tattoo's and modified genetics to alter your appearance (which may even change your stats if it gets so far) 1980's cyberpunk. with its leather jackets, wicked piercings, wild hair, dark shades and kill count tattoos, one side was gritty and dark, but almost pure somehow, with a sense of flash and presentation all its own. The other presented a world of power suits (the kinds with ties, not missiles) bright holographic advertising, super bright colored spandex, wild hair, digital make-up,and perfect bodies, all Corporate and dripping with all the sex and other marketing it can manage to distract everyone from the evils in inflicts on the world. Cyberpunk was covered with all the 80's excess-laden veneer the world could muster.
3) Hacking. Another core concept. this is something that has to be a major aspect of the game. This doesn't mean that it is the most important aspect of game play (the matrix online is dead for a reason) but it should be something relevant to one aspect of the game
Speaking of which...
4) Multiple Game play dynamics. This is a tricky one.....
-If a Solo is made set up for fully automatic heavy weapons, that Solo shouldn't have the same mission list as a Rockerboy with 3 hit singles on tour. So when creating a character, the player would have to choose a Role, and that would limit some of the story options, however this would enable much more depth into the areas and NPC's that would be encountered based on your Role.
-Then there is the question of forced replay vs 100% play thoughs.... It would inspire force the creation of a near-perfect superhuman by the end of the game, or force the player to replay through the game multiple times to complete the entire storyline. I have an idea to solve this.
---Storywebbing. Instead of creating Pierce, the cycle-loving Solo, and running all through the north side of the city, will have his story and effects on both the storyline and the city environment. Then the player creates Miko the Rockerboy (or girl, just to be fair) and the environment she encounters and has to react to have been altered by Pierce's actions. This would create the need to have a save setup where you have both the city and PC in different save files. I see this as loading the city, then picking the character.
5) Make it custom. Everyone on here seems to keep talking about this, mainly because it's one of the most important parts of cyberpunk. If they ran with this multi-PC idea, then the ability to create a personal look for each PC would be most satisfying. this look would have to incorporate many aspects, such as:
-hair
-eyes
-piercings
-tattoos
-scars
-chrome
-grafts (if they want to include genetic alterations)
-clothes (and this would be broken up into multiple locations on the body, as well as layered on)
-gear (such as your guns, computer, or even briefcases)
6) Interface. Lots of votes for 1st or 3rd person perspective, each implying a different style of game play based around this perspective. With the improvement of technology, the idea always seems to be on more realistic and detail then the last, but consider the Resident Evil remake on the gamecube. still maintaining the original static camera, the improved graphics added an new degree to the existing game play. perhaps a a static camera with impressive graphics involved would enable a deeper degree of involvement. also, if it changed the interface depending on the character (this is once again running with the idea that there are Multiple PC's in the city) such as a 1st person shooting interface (possibly with a VATS like system) would have a H.U.D based out of the sunglasses or a cyber-eye, where as the netrunner would have a Net interface with different gages and such.
7) Mini-Games. Something else mentioned a bunch, for all kinds of things such as lockpicking, hacking, and many others. Many votes on quick-time (actively occurring) events, which could be allowed to happen, if some sort of switch was included to disable them during storyline events. Skills could also be trained via mini-games, however there should be something setup to prevent the usage issues of GTA SA. Perhaps a skill training object placed in your house/base area.
8) Driving. This is a tricky subject... too much and this could become another GTA, too little and we get a bad Jak II... With a improve as you use system, skill could progress as in GTA SA, possibly enabling additional interface options or abilities when driving. Then comes the question of types (bikes, car, hovercraft, ect) wheels or hovering (followed by street level or flying) performance (have to be able to improve whatever it is) and visual effects, which may or may not have anything to do with actual performance.
9)Housing. Lost of requests for a house, that can be customized in many ways. This sounds nice, but the truth is that cyberpunk doesn't have much in the way of permanent housing. almost everyone rents, if they do more then get a cheap room (or even a tube, in some cases) and that depends on how long it takes them to need sleep in the first place. Having a house or something is much more the area of the high-end Corp Executives, almost exclusively, and even then only a highly expense (and fairly difficult to hack) security system (or a possible team if they rank high enough) keeps it safe from the various evils of the world.
-I still want a nice blade runner style apartment with the floating takeout truck that comes up my window like in the 5th element. Thats just cool.
-If we are able to get houses, some kind of skill training object/NPC could be used to assist with the active event issues.
10) Personal Hygiene. This could actually be an important aspect of this game, seeing as this is all about style. growth of hair (facial or otherwise) would be an interesting concept to bring to the style system, this could create a few layers of depth.
11) FOOD AND DRINKING. Not a big fan of the "you have to eat" system, but this is something else that could be included to add a few more degrees of depth. If nothing else, there has to be some kind of eating system to restore health or willpower or something. mainly hear for the boozing that your character should be doing.
12) SEX!!! Not really needed, but its happening all over the city. the option of hooking up with NPCs is always an interesting dynamic to offer, however this can break down when performed (hate to say it but that happens a lot). However this is handled, it should be prevalent in some sense.
13) DRUGS!!!!!!! These are happening. And they should happen a lot. And they should do very strange things other then just buff and debuffs. And they should probably be really bad. Also, Smoking? Please? Can we please have the OPTION of smoking? you don't have to make in required, but if you do smoke it BECOMES required. Like a real smoker. I cant think of a game where that's happened before..
13) AND ROCK AND ROLL!!!!!! Come on, this has to be here. Including the option of uploading a personal music collection is a wonderful idea. Please note, the player should not have heard of ANY of the bands on the soundtrack, and if done correctly, will never hear from again after. Wishing nothing bad to said bands, there is something strangely proper about that concept.