Replies may be delayed, but I'll get to them. Game devs are awful at acknowledging NDAs, as well as hardware companies (amd, nv, qualcomm, imagination, etc.). Ask me about development process, other high profile games, how to get hired, what to study, ama. I've been here over a decade.
I agree that CrossCode is too early to have an impact. It did, however, make every other 2D puzzle solving game look like shit already. It may go unnoticed like Crystalis did back in the NES days. That still holds the slot for my favorite game ever.
Pixel art I think will come back. There are a lot of people out there who put gameplay over art, and people who value pixel art.
I agree that CrossCode is too early to have an impact. It did, however, make every other 2D puzzle solving game look like shit already. It may go unnoticed like Crystalis did back in the NES days. That still holds the slot for my favorite game ever.
Pixel art I think will come back. There are a lot of people out there who put gameplay over art, and people who value pixel art.
I only half agree with CrossCode. I think it is probably too soon to know what sort of an impact it is going to have. It is a fantastic game already, but the art style is a problem. Pixel art is coming back in a big way, some of it is shitty, but the newer looking stuff isn't, it is glorious.
Owlboy has it too. Apparently the creators of Owlboy have coined a term for it - Hi-Bit. The problem with it though is that Owlboy took nine fucking years to be released, and I don't think people are willing to put that amount of time into a game.