If you are like me and are a bit artistically challenged, then you might like to try what we did this game jam when building our first "2D" isometric space shooter/block builder (tile maps are so powerful!).

We modelled and animated The Forgotten One using Blender, then setup a semi-automatic workflow to take 8-directional perspective renders. This resulted in a sprite sheet that I think turned out pretty decent (at least much better than anything I could draw, 8 directions and 8 tentacles sounds tough). If you like the pixel art style and are impressed with the power of 2D engines (loving Godot 4), but the art skill ceiling was scaring you off, give it a try!

HTML5 game link if you want to see the full animations and face The Forgotten One: https://ldj.am/$375191