Path tracing can be seen as a extension of ray tracing that supports a much broader range of effect like indirect lighting, soft shadows, anti-aliasing, etc. With the correct function for the material, you can simulate subsurface scattering relatively easily too. But, to me, the beauty of this technique goes beyond the effects you can achieve: it's an incredibly compact, uniform way of simulating light. Compared to rasterization, which to get the same result, you need a enormous code base that deals with very effect with caution. Adding a reflection in a rasterized scene might not reflect your shadows, etc. You need care about every possible interaction between every effect.