Hey there,
Your dedication to this project is admirable! I realized I first made an edit on your sprite of this character over 2 years ago. Well since you're still at it, I'll give you a second round!
It looks like you've gone through quite a bit of iteration on these portraits, I can't tell you which direction to take it, but I can see that there is a bit of mismatched combination of techniques ( selective outlining in some areas, not in others etc). This latest one also includes some heavy pillow shading in the shoulder- some of your earlier versions handled this better I think.
Going back through the thread I see you've messed with this portrait quite a bit, and honestly many of the directions were plausible. I would try to find a specific style as inspiration that you really like, and don't mind if you're wearing it on your sleeve. I was looking at some Breath of Fire while doing this edit, but it could be anything. It does make sense to get your style nailed down before doing more- but keep in mind that growth and evolution is inevitable if you do a number of them.
I noticed that there is a shift into violet in the shadow of the skin tones, so I echoed that throughout the rest of the palette. I also likewise shifted the highlights to yellow as it's a nice and simple complimentary scheme. I think the biggest room for improvement in these portraits is anatomy and how you design the shapes in the larger sense ( Breath of Fire's classic chunky capcom feel is a good representation of this) as well as your pixel clusters in the smaller sense, just cleaning up your technique a little bit.
Also I really enjoy your title screen image; both palettes are pleasing, the first is more nostalgiac with it's more monochrome palette, and the second feels more " present" in contrast.
Good luck as you continue on with this beast!


