You say that but honestly I'm fine even if it didn't get a visual overhaul. Sure it's not the prettiest in the beginning and I can see how it might turn some people off of it, but once you get through that initial awkwardness it fades into the background noise.
I express a similar sentiment during my 3rd paragraph. However I'm interested to see what WW will do, because some of the scenes feel disconnected.
Let me provide an example:
I like Tess sprite. It's not the best drawn one by a long shot, but it communicates the demeanor of the character, it's basic features etc. It's good enough for me to show interest to the character.
However her specific scenes are all over the place.
1) During the cheerleader route, the scenes with FMC are pretty much ugly.
2) The close ups and en face shots accentuate an odd feature, the excessive hair around her eyes. This is very prominent during the sorority party with the strip poker.
3) During the bonfire party, in the lake, we see the new model for the first time and it's way different than the original sprite, almost like a new character. Different face, different skin complexity, different hair color, more voluptuous than athletic which contrasts both her profession and her sprite.
So in a sense, all the tension that leads up to her scenes lose a lot of potency because of the visuals. She isn't consistent and the player has to go with his own perception of what Tess is, rather than what is shown in the game.
Humans tend to somewhat ignore the bad cosmetic features of a character if they like them. This happens in real life too. But a character like Tess doesn't have enough content to allow you to like her strictly for who she is. She exists mostly for the sex appeal and some filler. So when the visuals aren't up to par, she loses her whole point.
Now I don't think that fixing Tess, Christie, older Ella scenes, Alice during the beachparty, old Emily scenes etc, is that important. It's a very small part of the game and I'm FAR more interested in the story than a few random sex scenes, especially since the newer visuals tend to be fairly good. But it will create a far higher quality product and these inconsistencies can be prominent enough to alienate some of the player base who isn't that interested in the lore and prefers the faster-paced aspects of the VN, like combat and sex. Because if you are a new player, it's hard to predict that this game is going to be good, if it's that inconsistent and some of the art actively repulses you.
