Hi everyone,

I’m a solo developer working on a modern, top-down 2D pixel-art JRPG inspired by series' such as Final Fantasy, Persona, and Xeno(gears/saga/blade). The game itself is almost fully built out, with all of the systems in place and architecture built out. The only thing that's missing is the visual identity.

I’m looking for pixel artist(s) to help create the visual identity for a polished demo/vertical slice. The demo is planned to be around 2 hours long and will be used as the main showcase to greenlight the creation of the full game, based on public support. I need someone who can take ownership of the project’s visuals and help create a coherent, consistent art style across the entire demo.

This is a CASH PAID position, so please do not ask me about rev share.

The initial style I am leaning towards is a semi-realistic, semi-anime art style like that found in Octopath Traveler (but not HD-2D), but this is not set in stone. If you have a preferred art style that you work with that appeals to me, then I would be happy to accommodate!

Specs

• Modern detailed pixel art (color variety and high contrast).
• Top-down JRPG perspective (NOT isometric nor side-scrolling).
• Game resolution: 640x360, upscaled to 1080p/1440p/4K.
• Experience with dynamic lighting / normal maps is a plus.

Assets Needed

• Playable Character Sprites
• NPCs
  • NPCs share basic bodies, but having a variety of different clothing, hairstyles, etc. to differentiate them.
• Enemy sprites
  • Fantastical in design, leaning towards a more monster aesthetic
  • Sizes vary wildly depending on the type of enemy, going all the way up to 256x256 for bosses.
• Battle animations for playable characters and enemies
• Overworld movement animations for playable characters and NPCs
• Dialogue portraits with emotional variants
• Top-down tilesets for a variety of locations, including:
  • Peaceful Village
  • Musty Slum
  • Medieval City
  • Gloomy Prison
• UI components
  • I have already created the layouts and formatting, you just need to design the elements.
• Icons for items, spells, menus, etc.

To reiterate, the game already has many core systems implemented in-engine, including exploration, battle, menus, and general infrastructure. I have a lot of the UI in place with programmer art and placeholder assets, but the missing piece is a unified visual direction and polished art assets.

Please reach out if you:

• Have experience with pixel-art RPG assets
• Can create consistent characters, environments, UI, and animations
• Are comfortable helping establish the game’s overall art direction
• Can communicate clearly and help scope the workload realistically
• Are open to a possible long-term collaboration if the demo goes well

Please send your portfolio, relevant examples to my project, rates, and availability if this project interests you!

If you are only comfortable with one aspect of the listed above (ex. if you think your environmental art would be a great fit but you are not comfortable with character sprite creation), that's fine! I'm not looking for just a single person, as long as you can adapt your style to fit the overall vision of the project, please don't hesitate to reach out!

You can DM me here or contact me at garson.vgdev@gmail.com

Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!

EDIT: Please include a portfolio link and/or a small message about your skillset in your initial message to me, else I'll ignore all other messages that seem like bots.

EDIT: Also no NSFW whatsoever, please!