Holy crap! How long have you been doing this for?
I had to take an involuntary break for a year, but before that... For that particular game, a little over half a year, I think?
Making sprites with HoneySelect is easier since I don't need to actually render them. I doubt I could have come even remotely close to that number using DAZ.
That said, it still took me hundreds of hours, setting up poses, facial expressions, and clothes for all characters; plus manually editing the results to achieve decent transparency and standardize layout. But that's necessary for a complex wardrobe system with 10–20 outfits for each character – which is something I
really don't recommend going for if it's not supposed to be an integral part of your game.
Attempting something like this without using sprites would have cost me decades as well as what remains of my sanity. lol
Sprites are awesome for streamlining development, as long as the dev manages to convey character expressions, body language, and emotions through them. Which you are accomplishing nicely, particularly with Summer and Yun.
I only ever see people complaining about sprites if the sprites in question are static or boring (no pose changes/lack of appropriate facial expressions/no outfit variability...).