We've heard not a lot, but a few very negative opinions about the new sprite, but we don't really grasp what the issues might be, apart maybe from sparsely drawn expressions (talking about no line connecting nose to mouth). I'm personally veyr happy with it and think it captures the energy of the original sprite very well.
Can you tell us what you don't like about him? Posting the default sprite here.
I understand the frustration with the project's art direction going in a different direction than you'd like to, there's nothing offensive with that. It's hard for me to relate because I'm a big fan of this sprite personally, but understanding how others perceive it is very important for me.
I decided to move away from the side-facing sprite and go back to a front-facing one after playing the VN with the new sprites. The sprite itself looked fine, but the vibes it was giving felt off. Side-facing sprite felt too detached while a front-facing one is engaged and confrontational. With that previous sprite we tested, the scenes with Mikko only didn't seem to have the same emotional impact to me. This one has better expressions, the pose with folded arms works so well with it, and it carries the same vibe as the current public sprite. I think it works well with the story and his route. My eyes don't parse him as infantile, but I'll try to play around with proportions a bit to see if I can arrive at something better.
- Keo
