While I don't know your personal stance on it I would very much advise the use of AI in that case. Even if it is looked down upon by some people, the reality is that even AI art needs a lot of care and attention to be good and that effort makes all the difference to AI art slop games. I just played
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yesterday (not NTR) and the store screenshots make it look like just generic AI art was used, but actually most images are fully animated in the game and look far better than first impressions would suggest. And art can always be replaced later, if you do find the means to work with an artist after all.