As 1ucas said, I think your pieces are very striking and have a lot of potential, but there is a lot of messy noise. A little touch up could do this image wonders. The girl standing at the well is very hard to read. Maybe changing her palette or using more contrasting colors would make her pop more. I did not notice a person was in the scene until I zoomed in and really looked.
junco don't let anyone discourage you in your style. It's art, take your critics with a grain of salt and keep doing what you love. I personally have enjoyed each of your works. They remind me of old Kings Quest Images. Another one. For a new person to the Joint I think you are doing great.
Junco, you have interesting concepts in your art, but I really think you should try something more precise. As it is, these look more like tiny MS Paint doodles than pixel art, there's no refinement on them.
Try spending more time in each piece, and placing your pixels more carefully. If you need any help, seek the help of the rest of the community at the forum: http://pixeljoint.com/forum/
Stickytape and 1ucas summed up what I had to say.
A lot of wonderful potential, but needs cleaning.