The dithering on the chain mail looks very nice. Excellent work, Cyangmou.

ah yeah, finally fixed that =)

hey btw the links to the first and second versions are the same. just thought you might wanna fix that

really astounding piece btw 

???

Cuirasses were often made naturally "bellied" to deflect blows and arrows:

c0728562.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/MI22137_HR.jpg

I really like the updates in the newest one, especially the scabbard. Your links for the first and second versions lead to the same image.

Not your best pixel. Looks like he has a big Homer Simpson tummy.
 

I think I know what you mean DawnBringer. I don't think it's just a a problem with the shinyness, but saturation might play a role as well. Edited both - hopefully for the better.

you sir, are right (added one)

As long as the armor is shinier than the sword, it's gonna look a bit odd. 

You forgot the scabbard. ;)

Brilliant colour blending!

sword should be better now =)

Wow. 

So epic! :)

Initially the sword had a golden crossbar, but removed that in the process, I guess jus tbecause I wanted to go for a sweet 16 palette.

Now as I overlook it, posewise it might be an idea to move the sword a bit down and right, to get it contrasting with the black of the shield that it sticks out a bit more.

I referred with "simple" mainly to the concept. I think armors are beautiful the way they were designed

Of course there is a way to change designs in the direction of fantasy and to add horns, spikes and huge plates, in order to add more character.

It's also possible to go more in the direction of heavily overdrawn and exaggerated styles, which are more common nowadays.

But in terms of elegance a simple platemail worn by knights in the past to me feels timeless in it's beauty and in it's intention to effectively protect the man inside it, while providing high movability  =)

that knight means business.

The metal shining and the skirt are just also really dig feeling of depth you have captured.

Don't know about the sword being boring but it could use to stand out more. The way it is now, everything takes the attention away from the sword and I would say that's bad, since it's important. The difference between a guy going for a walk and a warrior you don't want to mess with and so on.

simple knight sprite
Jeez, I should put more effort into improving...

Simple is a huge understatement.  You've captured The kind of matte gloss you see on worn plate mail perfectly imo. 

Awesome but the sword is boring.

Excellent job, so shiny!

I love the mail skirt.  The most impressive part to me by far. 

Seems real. 

Wow, that metallic shading looks damned impressive.

Very nice metal colors.