There are games that do not have animation and are incredible either because of their renderings or story, but with respect to the question, that really has other factors, a game can have incredible animations but what good is it if the content is not its strong point and even The update time can alienate the audience, an example Apocalust.
Yes, but only if the animations are well done. I saw a few games thar the animations were really poor quality. It is important that the anination don't brake the game (I can't end echoes of lust 2 because it crashed on the animations.
If they're good they do, obviously. Good animations are pretty rare though and I think for most games I wouldn't enjoy them less if they were taken out.
Animations consisting of 3 frames never get any good. Except a few in Summertime Saga.
Imagine it's a lot of work creating animations, but when the quality is good - it's super rewarding.
I've never played a game I thought would be better without the animations. Games without animations can work, but the art and the dialog REALLY need to be on point.
For many games animations improve the game, but there are some where the animation is clearly so much of a gimmick, where just a couple parts move but the rest are completely static, which makes it rather creepy. Especially if you have high quality 3d renders, this can immediately drop the visuals back down into the uncanny valley.
Good animations can improve a game of course. but rendering animation takes a long time. Animation heavy games will have slower updates. like guilty pleasure. Games can still be great without them.