Yeah, my perspective on video games and the insane amount of work that goes into them definitely changed when I started working in the industry almost two decades ago now.
I've said as much before, but no dev sets out to make a bad game, and there are so, so, so many moving parts when putting a game together, that sometimes the end result isn't what the devs intended, but it was the best they could do with the time, budget, resources, and myriad of other complications that often arise when making video games.
It doesn't mean that games are immune from criticism, or that you can't/shouldn't criticize games. But I will say that no one knows the game better than the people that made it, and just being able to see one through to completion is a monumental task. It definitely stings when something you've worked so hard on comes out sub-par, especially if part of the reasons are things that were out of your control.
We always have post mortems about the games that we make, and we often comb through the game with a fine toothed comb before it even releases, but definitely after, and taking real stock on what worked, what didn't work, and what we can do better next go round.
Constructive criticism is always welcome, and genuinely useful. Like, just saying, "Game is garbage," or "Game is GOTY" isn't really that helpful. I know I always enjoy reading in depth discussions about why gamers like/dislike a game, or certain aspects of a game.
Also, devs are gamers too. When possible (work most certainly gets in the way from time to time), we play as many games as we can, and discuss the ones we love in the office, or on Slack/etc, and also look at the games we play with our own critical eye, gleaning what we can about the things we like/loved about it, as well as the things we disliked/hated about the game. It's this mix of enjoying a game for the fun of it, and also analyzing it and breaking it down on a design level.
The way I play games, and perceive games, has totally been changed, that's for sure.