I get what you are trying to say and while its correct for most games at the moment its not technically correct for all games as Ray Tracing can change gameplay. From the smaller stuff like being able to spot NPC's in true reflections that you couldn't spot without Ray tracing to bigger examples like Stay in the Light which Ray Tracing has a massive impact on gameplay. Then we have Raytraced Audio which can technically effect gameplay though I am only aware of one game so far to uses Raytraced Audio.Similar experience really.
Quake RTX (Quake 1) looks much better to me. Portal is a fantastic game but RTX doesnt change the gameplay of any game.
I had to down the brightness / shinyness of Quake because its a dark gritty game.
Ray Tracing should be amazing for Dark and gritty games. Games being brighter with Ray tracing is an artistic choice rather then something that has to happen. Ray Tracing can be used to make a game darker with stronger shadows. I am not disagreeing when you say Ray Tracing has made some games too bright. Just pointing out it doesn't have to be that way.