I like some of these, I'll try to explain why.
1. I wouldn't be terribly specific about a new character, the producers switch character design, backstories, names, etc at the drop of a hat, a few times before the game finally gets finished so that the character fits exactly what they need.
2. Love zombies, and I like the idea of new enemy designs of infected animals. I've always wondered where all the zombie cats go =/. Revelations has some great examples of large dogs that could easily have been polar bears.
3. Location inspired weaponry would be cool, but in taste. I shouldn't be able to kill a zombie polar bear by harpooning it unless I hit it in the head.
4. While new locations are lovely, I think RE thrives best in one focused location, which creates that "trapped" feeling that you don't get in RE6. The name "Resident Evil" itself came from the original mansion.
5. Definitely, I don't think it'd be RE without the classic weapons =p
6. ... ... ... I'm sorry. Don't like to down on it, but I hated the controls in both of those games. Sliding and dodging is alright, but the camera in 6, and the entire cover system in ORC made me want to break stuff lol. I don't think cover should be necessary in an RE game. The Last of Us, Dead Space 3, RE6, REORC, all starting to include human shooters as enemies to engage the FPS and Naughty Dog fans, but to me it just feels like I'm suddenly playing Uncharted and takes away from the experience a bit.