Make a case? Hehe well I could, but it wouldn't really help anything. By asserting the similarity with Zelda, I'm highlighting that itseems likes a nice bar for this style of tileset, that's really all.
Kren says make the tree less plastic, meaning that it's not realistic enough and is too cute/bulbous. Well, I say make everything like that! Again, ZELDA power, activate! Zelda's quaint and simple style is constituted by it's "plasticeness", as it's being referred to here. Check out Zelda's trees. They're just massive blobs on trunks, but they're great, the transition edge from grass to dirt is just a solid constant thick line. How "plastic".
The tileset as a whole has such gestalt, I can't get tired of looking at it. Let me define that so the thought isn't skipped by any readers here - "a configuration or pattern of elements so unified as a whole that it cannot be described merely as a sum of its parts" (Google definition).
Sorry gents, I'm not trying to go against the grain here. I honestly think this particular tileset indicates prospect to attain something like Zelda's look, I'm not saying rip it, I'm just saying use it for an example on what works.
Bhalzak, I encourage you to create your tiles/sprites for this thing in the most simple way possible. Design economy to the nth. Feature large bold objects. Avoid constant 1 pixel detail. Dithering is illegal. The world maps of Zelda speak way louder than this text. It's funny, I'm not obessed with Zelda like it must seem, I just think it's a good bar. I probably need to play more games, but that takes too much time, haha.
Your new bush is flat, but I like the direction.