Oh my gosh.
I think I just died.
Of awesomeness.
Someone call an ambulance.

All I know is that we saw the babies and immediately jerked back shuddering because this is Sylestia, not MLP. WHY are their heads a completely different shape from the adults? Why are their eyes so ludicrously huge? Why do they look like MLP ate them and spat them o u t?

Honestly, we always kind of pictured the kelpari looking sort of like this (and look, we've had this lying around for months and we finally got a reason to scan it)

- With a wide mouth, because I remember distinctly that previously (but it's been edited out?) the kelpari was rather implied to be carnivorous. (The revamp's shape of the female's weirds me out...)
(But the carnivore mouth is just our own belief, although there's the fact that the mythological kelpie definitely is one, so)
- Hooves really broad, to spread weight more over sediment. (why are the female's... new front hooves so... teeny?)
(This one is now? Really, really relevant? because they don't have their nifty forefeet anymore? Her hooves are teeny-weeny, she'd probably go straight through the silt. The male seems to have draft horse based hooves, which are really broad, but the female?)
- Fins akin to fish to aid paddling. (the new ones don't have any fins on their legs at all?)
(you know, I was just looking back on the old art to do comparisons and realised that the female doesn't have fins on her hind legs?)

(we actually like the paddle forefeet of the current version, even if they do look a tad odd in the old art. Like platypi, only also not at all like platypi.)

We can definitely appreciate the much further stretching tail fin, though.
Hm. Like...
*very quickly draws up a new bodyplan and proceeds to lament our complete lack of ability in drawing horses, those hooves look WEIRD, and also not broad enough at all*

Being a mammal... or Sylesti mammalian equivalent, at any rate, it'd probably go for a primarily up-down spinal movement, so there being a fishy-fin along both sides of the back as opposed to down the middle seems reasonable to us.

The wings strike us as a pretty weird thing, though, because... ? couldn't the back fins in their new one-to-a-side setup fulfill that requirement without them? They just kind of seem like they're taking up space and blocking the view, really. They could probably take a basic tripodal stance with their tail on land, too, with the fin-spines adding stability. Sort of like a seal, but not quite (as seal's tails are their hind legs and that isn't the case with the kelpari. Going by the smaller side-fins that are presumably their hind-toes, they went along a more cetacean route of body plan.)


The overall art is far neater and smoother (the male's pose is pretty cool in the revamp, but gotta say, we've always been pretty fond of the fact that it's the female kelpari who has the active, powerful stance in the current version), despite our overall reservations about the changes.

Summarize:
- Female hooves teeny
- Female mouth oddly shaped
- Female seems really skinny compared to the male, muscle-wise
- Questionable need for wings
- BABIES? ?? ??? Why???? HEADS?????
- Is it just us, or are the female's eyes also pretty large compared to her head vs the male?

- Male's new pose is cool
- New tail-fin is cool
- Twinned back-fins are cool
- Nice lines, very smooth, so curve.

In regards to the wings, I apologize for not mentioning in the original post that we planned on them to be transparent. So you'll be able to see the genes etc through them.

As far as some of the other complaints/suggestions....

- I will have the artists look at giving the babies more serious faces instead of overtly cutesy.

- As far as the male and female leg size differences, that was obviously intentional and is something that we like and want to keep. We won't be putting fetlocks on the female or bulking her up.

- I will see about making their wing attachments look more natural, however keep in mind a lot of that has to do with when we shade them. I will also see about making the female web ear attachments to match the male or vice versa...whatever turns out looking the best.

- For also adjusting their wing positioning...that won't work. Unfortunately we have to draw our pets in a box. We went through a lot of sketch positioning and the wings being upright wouldn't look correct with the amount of room. Either the wings were large enough but the pet was incredibly tiny to make the wings fit or the wings were way too small looking. Making their wings upright also, just disregarding that main issue itself, I didn't feel was as elegant looking as their wings are down.

Thank you for the feedback so far though! I am very happy to see that the majority is very positive. :)

Overall Impression Of the Art: Three Thumbs Up.

Overall Impression Of the Kelpari: Um, guys . . . this isn't a Kelpari.

Kelparies (based on the legendary water-horse called a kelpie) are found in Astryl's Vale, "just lakes or deep ponds." The carnivorous Kelpari has front feet with claws (and webbing), plus hind feet with hooves ("water-horse").

The new Sylesti is based on the hippocampus, a legendary sea creature, and not on the kelpie. It lacks hind legs, like a hippocampus, has a fishtail, like a hippocampus, and has (or may have) wings, again like a hippocampus. Based on this, and on the new art, these creatures belong in the ocean, not in Astryl's Vale.

It would be most excellent to have these new Sylesties coming to a Stables near you--if they were a new, seaside species, an addition to all Sylesties instead of a replacement for the Kelpari.

Honestly, I really like how the adults look, but they just aren't Kelparies. I was hoping to see a pet like this, but eventually, when players gained access to the seacoast.

Can't we have these and Kelparies?

PS Apologies for any clumsy phrasing; I have a cold, which means I have taken cold medication. Eep.

Edit: Should have mentioned some of the things I do really like about the new art: The adults' expressions have so much personality; it is great. I also like the slight reduction in the volume of the watermane; it always looked a bit "much" to me.

I love the hatchlings. The tails on the adults kinda blend in a little much for me. But they are still a huge improvement. Good job.

I agree with many people about the babies' faces. They look like they have far too little snouts.

Also, agreed with the point Britters made about the fins covering too much of the female kelp, currently it covers about 1/3 to 1/4 of the body, and the female kelp already has less body area due to being smaller than the male.

I think the female is also too slender compared to the male as well. She could do with some muscles. It would also be pretty awesome if the female has feathering on her hooves like the male... ;'D

Even with these though, I love their design more than the previous kelparis, which I find quite lackluster. I am excited for the revamp, and will be breeding my kelps in anticipation. xD

So a Peophin from Neopets with wings?

Okay then.

Yaaay this is awesome! I was so looking forward to new kelpies!

Oh my freaking gord!!! It's time to start hording keps!!!!
I love them!!
Tho the babies are a meh. I think they should look more like foles rather than something outta mlp fim.

I personally really like the idea of a merhorse; however, to appease those who miss their hindlegs, perhaps include a mutation similar to the Quad Arms on Ny'vene?