Yeah, that Auro art is way too high res for 'pixel art'. It just looks like someone scaled down, or pixelated, some smooth art.

On a phone screen it probably just looks like it should be smooth art but it's running at the wrong resolution. Implying something is wrong with the game.

Agreed - it really looks like hand drawn art that's been turned into "pixel art" in some kind of paint by numbers fashion. Just using the original hand drawn concept art probably would have looked better, but that doesn't mean that pixel art in general is a bad idea.

Look at Stardew Valley for an example of a very popular game that's all pixel art. I don't see any reviews of that saying that it looks "pixelated" or "not getting" the art style. And it's not like Stardew even has amazing pixel art, it's just decent enough.

I would certainly play another Simon the Sorcerer. Thimbleweed Park was nice, but its pixel art is less visually "rich".

It's not just the high resolution, but the hand-rendered anti-aliasing that gives it that pixelated look. Pixel art is most satisfying IMO when the lines are sharp and/or the dithering is clear.