It does feel like spells are on a big pedestal and that they treat it as a very special thing, they're the only system that truly scales with levels and such (say, if there's a magic disease, it can say it needs a 6th level Heal or similar spell to cure it, even though there are non-spell disease curing abilities in the game, you just won't know if a Lay on Hands could work or not).
I was looking at it the other day, on the "tiers of play" part of the DMG, where it talks about the amazing abilities that you unlock as you level up that let you change the world around you.
At tier 1, you get some weaker spells and normal items.
At tier 2, you get some cool spells and magic items.
Tier 3, cool spells and magic items.
Tier 4? Cool spells and magic items. It's talking about the abilities that can definite the game, and it's all spellcasters or whatever the DM decides to give you for items, no one is gonna pretend that Brutal Critical or Indomidable will definite how the campaign is played.
But the tier 4 part also talks about level 20. A Cleric can ascend to the heavens and become their god's right hand. A Warlock could straight up become a patron for other Warlocks. A Wizard becomes immortal and expends eons exploring the multiverse. A Druid becomes one with nature and turns into a spirit of the land. The other classes aren't even mentioned by name, but
the rest can't really compare to the above . . .