Is criminal minds still good after Mandy Patinkin leaves?

I recently started watching Criminal Minds. I’m about halfway through s1, and I just found out that Mandy Patinkin left the show after s2. Gideon is such a big character, it’s really hard to imagine what the show will be like with him gone. For those that have watched s3 and beyond, how does the show feel? Is there a noticible drop in quality? Or is whoever replaces him actually able to fill his shoes? I’m still gonna keep watching it, but I’d just like to see what everyone’s opinion was.