I'm not a big fan of adult RPGs. They are not necessarily bad - in fact, some can be quite engaging but they just don't do it for me. As for sandbox games... it's hard for a single person or a small team to properly develop the good game play and interface required for a game like that to work...
As a consumer, I honestly don't care what went into making the game, only if it's good or not. If o1 (and whatever comes next) allows a developer to write a better story and make a better game overall - so be it, more power to them.
As for art becoming too realistic, you can already achieve...
Not a fan. The only exception I make is for Wife Trainer. The writing in that particular game is good enough to stand on its own and the images used are very carefully curated to support the story.