I don't think the visuals are necessary.

[Mendeljeff]

I like the writing and the story direction so fair, but I don't think one needs so much visual representation; especially after playing a game relying wholly on our imagination when it comes to character designs.

Roadwarden's pixel art was charming and the coloring fit the setting very well; it was precise and still left much to your own interpretation.
The character sprites in this game look amateurish, to be entirely honest. They are not sized to each other, remind of old RPG-Maker anime games and the colors are all over the place. I get that it is a different game but it feels like a step down when it comes to artisanship.

Hurts me to say that, because I do want to know more of that world and the writing is well done and intriguing. I do very much enjoy, that there is a built-in Journal now, in which you can look up who is who. The music and sound design are on point as well.

Does anyone agree with me here, or am I just generalizing my own opinions?

[xrys]

I agree. I had mostly the same reaction.

[fýrine]

I personally liked the visuals, and while it was a little overdone at times, I really did like the sprite animations and many scenes. I could see the labor put into them and I feel that it wasn't for naught. I agree that the differing pixel sizes is very weird and disconcerting, but iirc Roadwarden did this too, as did The Captain (2021), One Dreamer, and many other excellent games in history. I don't think it is sufficient to discount.

I must personally disagree with the RPG maker pixel art game statement because RPG maker games are generally just awful to look at, and very ugly due to bad rendering design on the side of the engine and low effort sprites from artists who don't care too much about their games looking coherent.
This game renders just as crisp as Roadwarden, but with a significantly different art style. I personally do prefer the Roadwarden art style's simple color pallete but Roadwarden was not fully certain how it wanted to do its art either (ex: see Eudocia's castle being the only map tile which can be viewed larger than it is). I think the devs here are trying their best to show a few slices of their world in a new art style.

Expecting Roadwarden's style to be the same in this game comes off to me a little bit dismissive of how indies roll. I myself am currently working primarily on two games, which, knowing each in isolation would make the other's visual appearance and representation impossible to guess. Artists like diversity, variety, and exploring new things.

[pyridine]

I think you've significantly diluted your brand with this and putting it on the menu of a game with a much more cohesive/attractive art style was a mistake.

[sanvadym]

Hm, very interesting to hear.
I experience an opposite reaction. In Roadwarden I was sometimes overhelmd with walls of text. The approach of Windy Meadow made me more grounded and therefore more emotional connected with the characters and the story.
I would be happy to see the next game some in between although. Because the Roadwarden freedom is indeed real. So much you can do and explore as a player. But I guess it was made possible by the ''wall of text'' approach.

[Lt. Don Draper]

My own two cents before I actually play the game: Roadwarden is amazing. It is very much like some other games I've seen, I think mostly text with some flavor sprites or images on the side works perfectly. I think this is just different.