Undead Samurai WIP... plz crit

A piece that has been in the works for a while now. I was cranking this one out quite quickly and then had a lot of things come up and I haven't gotten back to it since.

All of the clothing needs, work, but I am struggling to add the necessary contrast while not make it look plastic or rigid...

The shoulder piece on his left, needs to be totally re-worked. I want to do something with feathers, but this, the third attempt, has me wondering if I should just go with a similar piece as the other side.

Thoughts and crits please.