These cliffs need to be looked at as a standalone element from the grass everybody. I can't make the top grass lighter, I can't blend strands of grass into the cliffs, as these cliffs can equally well appear in a desert, near water or on a mountain. If I have to make separate tiles for each environment to blend them in, I will go crazy. The grass is just an example.
I can fake it with shadows, which I would do if this were an actual mockup for a level, which this is not. You can look at the original brown cliffs to see what those shadows might look like. Also imagine them not in a sea of green, but on the edges of the screen, surrounded by vegetation, dirt, all kinds of grasses, flowers, roads, rivers, etc.
Pretty good cliffs but too SD influenced imo!
They're far removed from SD imo. I've never even looked at an SD game, apart from the screenshots provided in tsugumo's tutorial (is that still online somewhere?). It's mostly trying to get the look and feel of Chrono Trigger actually, but my tiling skills are miles away from what those artists achieved in CT. I'm talking more about reusability and versatility of the tiles versus the actual texture and likeness, which I think I managed to come close to.
I think the borders, particularly along the top, are far too regular, making it look constructed. Also the division is not very strong, a shadow or any clear difference between the grass on the top of the border and the grass below would do well by you.
Thanks for that comment, I will look into it. As said above, shadows would be added on the grass if this were an actual level.