I really don’t mind the ionised look. I think that there isn't much point in a change in perspective personally (also for readability during play side view is a lot better). One thing I do notice is that the knight looks different from the rest due to it being more complex, many of the highlights seem lost and so it doesn't seem as bright as the other pieces. The same follows for the queen and king to a lesser degree. Another thing regarding colours, the gold pieces have a nice hue shift, whilst the blue seem very monochromatic. Work some more variation in hue into the blues I say. Also with the black and white, just because they are the traditional colours doesn’t mean they will have no variation in hue. They all seem just a tad too gritty for my taste, but that could be put down to a style choice i suppose.
P.S. welcome bak Souly!
