You're absolutely right about all that. If the AI renders can't meet the quality bar that was set by the 3d renders, and do it with less work on my part to boot, then they're not an improvement. The bar is different on games like, say, Striple, where poker cards in the hands aren't desirable, and varying art styles and locations for each costume set are actually a plus.
This might also be a pretty desirable approach for people who want to create their own opponents but don't have the money, hardware, and technical skills that go into doing 3d renders.
The good news is I'm getting a lot better at this AI stuff, and I finally have a properly trained LoRA for Denise, so the continuity part of things is getting a lot better as you can see below:
(I can't say this was less work than the equivalent 3d renders though, lol, but many lessons were learnt in the process)
Stay tuned for another update with even more progress!