You should ask the other way around: Does a fully animated character serve a specific purpose in the game or is it just eye candy?
Just eye candy, but imho I think it aggregates value to the game.
Could you depict the same thing with just a still-picture or a series of them?
I could, but it's actually easier to animate and use a gif or movie, with unity I don't have the constraints I have with rpg maker for example.
What you are asking is a bit like Pandora's box. Once you open it there is no way of going back without having a bunch of users complaining. Will you be able to finish the full game when you start playing with full animated characters (be realistic)?
That is my main fear, my game only has 5 days to be short enough for me to finish, as a way to experiment and test myself, I don't wanna over promise and under deliver, but I think a walking animation wouldn't take much of my time, but if I had to animate every single scene it would become hard for me to keep up.
I can at least from my personal point of view answer: I rather have a somewhat complete and working game with a full scope and ending instead of something partial that looks fancy.
Couldn't agree more, that is my main concern, right now the animation is just a test as it's not implemented nor it's on my plans, I'm just munching at the idea, but I get what you mean, if this will make my game explode on scope I'll keep it out.
And as a status report, right now I'm almost ready with the renders needed for the first day, just have to put every thing inside the game and write the last scene.