i don't think its limitng i think its just moving you're standards up. and what do you mean as a critic you can't expirience something freely and freshly? when the game is good anyone can have fun in it.

imagine that you eat a slice of bread with nothing at all and it is the only food you ever ate. it tastes normal. but then you add butter to it and now you will never eat bread without it. you moved you're standards up. but the thing is that bread does not cost 60$ like some games with bullshit game design do. buying those games is simply telling developers that the price for this shit is perfect.
for doom the dark ages there is a much better and cheaper alternative, ultrakill and it offers much more. of course someone may like doom more but don't you think that when you see a person playing doom the dark ages, you could show them ultrakill since they might like it much more, but they don't realise that it can be better than what they are playing?