So let me get this straight:
The dev LITERALLY JUST TOLD YOU, WITH EXAMPLES that this has been in development for years and they have grown as an artist over that time, and you are using "visual inconsistencies" as "evidence of ai use"? As they literally just told you, there will be inconsistencies since some of these sprites were made years apart. So, if you want to point fingers of ai use, make sure it isn't something they literally just explained. It makes you look dumb.
An example, to show you what I mean:
Me: You are obviously far too young to have an itch.io account and be looking at 18+ games, because your spelling and grammar is atrocious.
You, probably: I'm writing this from a phone and don't have autocorrect or something
Me: But bad spelling and grammar is a sign of an 8-year-old.
Does that make sense to you?
Also, to address a few of your specific concerns:
Too much detail? Really? In a game where the only time you see anything more than an 8bit sprite is in a large portrait, that the player is specifically meant to look at, they use too much detail? Of course they used detail, if they didn't then how would you tell people apart? It's not meant to "evoke the feels of a human figure", it is meant to be a specific, detailed portrait of a specific person.
Oh no, the hand is gone! Oh wait, it's in their sleeve. No object permanence - that "you are far too young to be on here" thing was a joke, but the amount of evidence just keeps growing. The colour changes a little? Oh no, the portraits don't have the exact same hex code as each other, the world is ending.
The reason her skin is lighter in the hypnosis scene? They aren't wearing their hat, which makes shade on their face in the others.
Their eye colour changes when they get hypnotised? Yeah, that's on purpose. If it was only one or two people in a few frames, sure, but it happens literally every single time you hypnotise someone.
What on earth do you mean, PTSD eyes? What, their eyes show emotion? That's the sign of a good artist who knows how emotion works, the exact opposite of an AI.
And for the icing on the cake: Your point about them having the same expression as a character you found online. Have you ever heard the saying "Great Minds Think Alike"? Or maybe that's the way people draw that emotion because that's how it looks. Have you ever drawn a circle? Well, you obviously used AI because it looks like this other image of a circle because THAT'S HOW YOU DRAW A CIRCLE. Also, have you ever heard of reference images? Also, no, they don't look the same. Look at the mouth: The google one doesn't have their mouth tilt downwards at one end. If they were exactly the same, sure, then there would be reason for this complaint, but there isn't, so there is no reason you should be complaining right now.
One final thing:
You say to "JUST BE HONEST."
The problem is, what if they are being honest about not using AI?
They said that, and you are telling them to stop lying. So, if they are telling the truth and you are saying they are lying, what do they need to do to prove they are telling the truth? If you will only accept the answer you have already decided is true, the only answer they could possibly give to satisfy you is to lie and falsely confess. Say, that sounds really familiar... Have you ever heard of the Salem Witch Trials, or the Red Scare? The basic story is that innocent people were accused of something, and there was no way to prove they were innocent, and so they were killed unless they lied.
The outcomes to this are:
Idite tells you again that this is AI-free, you don't accept it and keep finding "evidence" of AI, and this amazing game gets removed because there is too much suspicion of AI use.
OR,
Idite lies, tells you there is AI, and this game gets removed because there is a confession of AI use.
The only outcome that doesn't make this entire community mad at you is if you drop it.
So, from the entire community, kindly shut the fuck up.
