it's not top down.
the w-e walk looks like in a sideview projection.
It would perfectly work in a sideview game, which won't be the case for topdown sprites, because they are seen from above.
In the idle you also keep the browline horizontal, as if the horizon line
A topdown projection of any angle always has a consistent form to it.
The sidwards walk is foreshortened, this means the head is overlapping the ribcage to some extend and the ribcage is seen from above
the feet are place in deeps space, because the plane they are walking on has depth.
Of course you can stylize it to a certain degree to have a good mixture out of 3d correctness and a depiction of what's going on, but your stylization currently is to harsh for the viewing angle of the world and therefore the sprite would feel disconnected
consider this shot from a "topdown" frontview:
look at how the forms overlap.
