But the most awesome part about Summer Game Fest happened immediately after Geoff Keighley dropped the mic on Elden Ring’s reveal, during the indie game show Day of the Devs.

Day of the Devs was a showcase of indie games hosted by iam8bit and Psychonauts developer Double Fine.

That sudden swell of, “holy shit I want this now” happened to me a lot more during Day of the Devs than it did during Summer Game Fest.

Frankly, the kind of games marketed during Summer Game Fest just aren’t for me.

Another game shown at Day of Devs was Unbeatable, an anime-style rhythm game in which you use the beat of the music to fight enemies.

I love rhythm games, especially if it’s a new spin on the rhythm game format, and I’m excited beyond reason for the full release of Unbeatable.

I know AAA development isn’t devoid of heartfelt personal stories, and I’ve had just as much of an emotional reaction to bigger budget games as I’m having to these indies.

And it’s these personal, blood-on-the-pixels kind of stories that remind me of why I so ardently love video games as a medium.