Is it possible and how to color a 3d model in blender without retopology?

Question

3D

My task is to make simple art, but I will face the need to colorize my model.
Here is the picture

spoiler

I just need to color it, I don’t want to simplify it somehow, that is, do retopology in the lol poly style, on the contrary, I want it to be even more high-poly, but I learned on the Internet that you need to do retopology, uvi scan and use normal maps. Is it necessary to do this retopology? For me, normal maps do not give such an effect as when there are a lot of polygons.
And when I use UV smart unwrapping, artifacts appear.
Please point me to sources, thanks.

Answer 1

Yes, high polygonal models can be painted in vertex paint, this allows you to paint directly the polygons, and accordingly the model itself, BUT it is desirable to do a retopology for better texture quality, because the texture is applied to the polygons as a pattern, and not as a material for the polygon, therefore it is not be lazy, do retopology, it will also save resources and time when rendering.
Here in the picture where you can find Vertex paint