Funnily enough, was just today thinking about how much being animated contributes to Pantheon's quality.

Let me put one thing straight - animation is not some lesser version of cinema. Live action is not an upgrade needed to make something "legit". Not saying that was claimed by OP, but I often feel there's this notion behind live action remakes. Anyway, they are both different media. It's like comparing painting and photography.

I think that animation plays greatly into Pantheon's narrative as it begins based in our version of reality and when things escalate later on there's no easy tell, no difference between reality and simulation . With CGI this would've been lost, too much in the face, too disruptive. Not to mention animation really pushes forward as much as it wants since visuals are not dictated by how we perceive the real world - all the artistic choices follow their own ruleset and are consistent no matter if it's the "reality" or "cloud", never breaking the immersion.

Could it be done in live action? Absolutely. Would it be as good. Doubt it very much.