Art Style Brain Dump

Wrestling with which direction to take the art style of the game. 

My original thoughts were pixel art, but what fidelity? In my heart I love high fidelity styles, but the practicalities of the amount of art work and the time it will take I think is subconsciously playing on my mind. 

I've been prototyping with limited desaturated palettes. Which feels much more because I think it will look 'cool' - ironic pun intended, (or probably not. ) Something like Eastward.  I don't want to look like Stardew Valley - the bright pop doesn't fit with the concept of Human struggle. But something like Sword & Sworcery - do I admire it rather than love it? as something I could do a whole game in?

Should I do something interesting around our general plight as idiot humans taking the world from a bright simply time to a darker more washed out existence. 

I quite like that as a concept. Maybe taking the palette through steps of saturation during different eras. The Dark Ages are dull, renaissance is bright.

I think that is the answer. I was going to try a monochrome palette but it isn't me. Or maybe the backgrounds could be monochrome,  to dictate the mood of the era (cool blue, hot yellow )

Plenty still to think about and concepts to play with. 

Initial draft characters  Aztec & Samurai -  for ears I'm no longer going to use :facepalm: