so far we haven't had a single hint at the RPG-part of the game, well I suppose you could consider the character customisation to be slightly RP-ing.
That's an interesting claim, and it begs the question 'what elements should a game have in order to be labeled an RPG?'
To me at least, role-playing means meaningful choices and reasonable consequences. Let me illustrate with an example: the main quest in 'TES IV: Oblivion' revolves around a large-scale demon invasion that needs to be stopped. The player can decide if he wants to pursue the main quest or stay clear of it. That's a meaningful choice. The problem is that this choice is never followed by a reasonable consequence. Indeed; if the main quest is ignored, none of the masterminds behind the demon invasion attempt to take control of the world. That's of course very immersion-breaking.
Does Ex Anima offer choices and consequences to the player? I'd say it already does to some extent; for instance, there is a clear choice when deciding how to interact with the creatures you find in the dungeon. Should you kill them all? Should you only fight those who are hostile? Should you fight no one and flee instead? Should you postpone such decision until after obtaining more information about who these creatures are (or were)? I'd say those are meaningful choices that allow for some roleplaying because they answer the question 'who is my character supposed to be?' And importantly, those choices are followed by reasonable consequences. For instance, if an originally neutral zombie witness you attacking one of his kind, he will turn hostile too.
One thing that is not implemented yet but will increase the roleplaying possibilities is the idea of earning the trust of the Ex Anima dwellers by doing them favors (giving them an object that they may like etc). I strongly believe that the roleplaying potential of a game is directly proportional to how much you can freely interact with NPCs. Ex Anima doesn't even have dialogue yet and it's honestly quite impressive what it manages to achieve without it in terms of roleplaying.
Now, things that have nothing to do with roleplaying in my opinion but, for some reason, people tend to believe they matter: numbers and labels. In the time of tabletop RPGs you needed to pick 'favourite attribute: strength' and 'class: barbarian' if you wanted to roleplay a Conan-like character. Now you don't. You simply select a character that looks strong and gear him up with armor and weapons that fit your idea of a barbarian. I don't know, Fireman, if you are one of those people that need to have numbers and labels in their games to call them RPGs. Personally I find them pointless and lazy at this day and age.
