After several months reworking and studying, I've created a whole new art style which required me to redraw EVERY single sprite, animation, and more in the game. I originally wanted a style similar to Yoshi's Island when I started but couldn't find a good balance between the art and what I had in mind.
That's changed and I decided to try some new proto-types. I quickly had a far better style than before, which was originally going to be a minimalist + impressionistic art style. The minimalist style would be used for levels that had the color sucked out of them as part of the games plot. As you returned the color and restored the environment back to normal, the style would turn to a more impressionist work.
There were problems though. For one, it looked really weird going from minimalist to a more colorful look. It could work, but not when I'm doing everything alone. It would require a whole team of artists to achieve something like I originally wanted. Plus, a bunch of my designs were inconsistent due to the fact I was more worried about the programming and technical aspects of my game than keeping my art in line.
I decided to try Steam Greenlight, but my goal was not to get it Greenlit but rather see what some random comments would say. Pretty much all of them said they didn't like the art style. One even said it looked like some random short mobile game...? I wouldn't go that low, but it had issues. Thankfully, no one really seemed to mind what it was about. A few were even interested, but I ultimately axed it cause my intentions had been met for my little experiment.
Now it looks like Yoshi's Island with a bit of Kirby's Dreamland 3. The characters are more refined and detailed. Every enemy has its own personality and the scenery is memorable. There's still a lot more work to do. You see, I plan to have each World have its own individual style! First world would be in a Crayon/Pastel drawn look, then there would be another with Water Painting style, another with Acrylics, etc. At the same time, I need them to be similar enough so the game doesn't look vastly different and the player can't tell what something is when they enter a new area.
You can see and compare the new look in the images section, or through here: Lucasmaxbros.deviantart.com
I also have a ton more animations/concept art pieces on my deviantart page: Lucasmaxbros.deviantart.com
And PLEASE check out the latest Demo to leave feedback!
