It's a little weird that he spends so much time criticizing others and doesn't even once acknowledge that his art style (proportions, anatomy) look definitely weird. (Downright ugly and off-putting to me.) Part of the reason his art gets put down by others might be that they also feel it's ugly, but don't quite know how to express it and pin it on the pixels.
Further, as someone who works on games, the decision as to what kind of art style is used, most often is not a decision to aim for something specific, but a question of money. Art doesn't happen on its own, you either have to make it yourself, or find someone else to make it (who makes something that looks good) AND then pay them, often also for many many revisions and additions. For a small team simple sprites that remain appealing and consistent even when scaled up can be the choice simply because anything else is prohibitively expensive.
I agree, that he fails to acknowledge the issues with his own art. I agreed with him through most of the article, but when it came time for him to get to his stuff, the forced dithering was immediately off-putting, and is actually something that causes older games to feel dated to me.
Pixel-art is great, when it is crisp. Most of his examples are crisp and well animated, until you get to his. The characters are oddly proportioned, but I can deal with that, and at least they were pretty crisp, but the interface around them was horrible.
I'm sorry you're not into Auro's art, but I just popped in to clear something up.
At no point do I laud my own work as all that great. I can't speak to how good I am. I do my best, and that's all I can do. Full disclosure, the only reason I included it at all was to plug it. We're a small, new company and need all the help we can get.
I also think it's a little strange to hear that I spend no time on my art's issues when the whole article is basically saying the entire art direction was a big mistake.
I'm not a graphic designer, yet I had to make every art asset in the game. I have to wear many hats, and I wear some better than others. I'm always learning, always pushing, always questioning, always trying to improve. Pretty much every example I gave of pixel art is insanely better than I am. That doesn't bother me. There will always be someone better, and there will always be someone worse. Besides, even if my work was the most ghastly thing you've ever seen, it wouldn't make my arguments any more or less valid. If you think my positions are incorrect, I don't see how that has to do with how much or how little I discuss my own work. That said, I'll be the first to fuss and fuss and fuss over the flaws and shortcomings in my work. I'm my own worst enemy. Does it make you feel better to hear that?
Further, as someone who works on games, the decision as to what kind of art style is used, most often is not a decision to aim for something specific, but a question of money. Art doesn't happen on its own, you either have to make it yourself, or find someone else to make it (who makes something that looks good) AND then pay them, often also for many many revisions and additions. For a small team simple sprites that remain appealing and consistent even when scaled up can be the choice simply because anything else is prohibitively expensive.