>>716363315
>>716362785
>>716361936
>>716354248
The problem with modern Wizards of the Coast-esque "Fantasy" is it misses an incredibly important core feature of compelling fantasy: An actual real sense of Adventure. Which requires a strong sense of danger. And part trepidation, wonder, and mystery.

Picrel is a piece of old DnD art: "City of Sin". Notice how dangerous everything is? It's a nasty red light district, and it's filled with nasty and awful people. Yet this is a peak environment ripe for being the crossroads of the start of an adventure. A sense of realism, grime, trepidation, real danger. You notice in old DnD art too, the grimy meanness is not required. In the OP picture is a handpainted work with colors that really blend and a sense of action and trepidation behind everything, but also intrigue and wonder.

There's a bit of that in the new art, color, magic, wonder- but they miss the other most key ingredients to creating an air of true fantasy adventure. Digital art also being way too crisp and high resolution tends to make it feel far less old and mystical like old DnD art.

Nu-DnD is all soft and friendly. Probably drawn by a girl who likes cute things and abhors scary things. Consumer market approved. Hard edges sanded off. There is no danger and it's a soft friendly world for you and your normal middle class extremely casual friends to jump in and enjoy with no real sense of risk or scary things happening.

Sense of real adventure: Gone.