Leisure Suit Larry and The Leather Goddesses of Phobos had that going on in the 1980s. I think an infamous Earthbound ad had it as well. 

It makes a difference in Spiderman 2



The more realistic, correct reflections add a lot of depth to a city full of windows. Yet 60 fps comes first, fidelity pro mode adds some better lighting and more precise reflections, not worth dropping to 30 fps for.

For lighting I haven't really seen the benefits yet. Horizon FW Burning Shores is the best looking game so far this gen and it doesn't have any RT afaik. RT could probably add a lot more shadows, yet the lack of more accurate shadows doesn't feel as 'missing' as Spiderman without reflections would change the look of NY.

It does make a difference but the difference between pre baked RT lighting (GT7) and real time is minimal. Yet in horror games where a flash light is your primary source of light, RT for light and shadows does make a big difference. TloU with full RT would definitely enhance the stealth sections.

It depends on the game, however 60fps and HDR should come first. And if RT doesn't work with 'performance' mode, then it kinda defeats the purpose of less work to add it in separately in a 30fps fidelity mode.

Depends on the game.
But generally, what’s important to me is the overall experience. I’m not sure there is a game that uses ray tracing that I’d like as much as Dwarf Fortress, for example. But I’m sure if I got into some “slow cinema” type gaming experience where environmental beauty and artistry was core to the game, then yes.
But, if it’s just cosmetics in a game whose experience value lies elsewhere, then no, it’s of no importance.

It goes by the game but yes it can make a massive difference on pc

Actual path tracing looks much better than other forms of lightning, not to mention that it saves a lot of development time when it's the only form of lightning. You'd literally need a GTA6-like budget to painstakingly combine RTGI and shadow/reflection maps to something close to the same effect.

Of course, though, a lot of games feature a half-baked implementation, and I don't blame anyone for thinking those are not worth the cost.

Yes - if implemented all the way, so to speak, really quite a difference. The kicker is, in order to be implemented that way, performance costs are insane - which means @ 4K, with DLSS Quality (so native 1440p), even on 5090, around 40-50fps for most demanding titles.

Does it matter to me?

I'll give you a hint:

I recently played through the entirety of SMB 3 via RF on a CRT.

Any guesses?

Well a CRT traces electron rays onto a tube ;)

This is the way.

Even with latest shaders and screens, we're still not up there to simulate CRTs as good as the real thing. Maybe with microLEDs, eventually...

Even on high end PC's I just don't see it justifying the cost. For it to really show, you'll notice people will saturate the game, maybe Cyberpunk or GTA in light rain with puddls. Even in Spiderman 2, a game that has so much reflections I wouldn't see it unless I took notice, you have to go out of your way to see the errors in screen space in that game or maybe once in a while you'll notice the reflection isn't accurate but not when playing the game. I find it the biggest waste of resources but nice for people who want it and see the benefit.

In Alan Wake 2, the best bit I seen was the windows in the town but it's such a specific thing. The Witcher 3's next gen patch amounts to deeper shadows and if you're near a candle you'll notice the RT but everywhere else it's not noticeable.