I was only talking about the measurement of "screens" that were mentioned. And they will be fewer in this kind of sprite presentation. Well, depending on how you count, either way not comparable.
And apart from the fact that custom drawn art also takes its time - as Andrealphus mentioned - a scene is more than just a couple graphics in a row if the game wants to be any good. The writing itself has also to be done, the programming of the adaptive parts of a scene also, while not rocket science, is a bit more than just displaying pre made images.
And actually I wouldn't want too "similar poses" (I mean, doggy is doggy, but we're not talking that I guess) just with different character faces. Apart from some body dimension questions this would indeed create immense numbers of images quickly but feel like some games with always the same warehouse to discover (hello Mass Effect). It's the question what you want.