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I'm half expecting to stir from my slumber any minute, clammy after a restless night filled with vivid dreams. That can't have been E3 2015, can it – a show in which the impossible became possible all within the span of an hour? I've been covering this event for a good six years now, and I know, from past experiences, to keep my expectations low. So how is it that this week's show not only delivered, but ripped up my wildest expectations and proceeded to stamp on them with a wide, infectious grin? It must have been a dream.

Allow me to clarify: it's been a dream for me. You'll always encounter detractors in this line of work – the kind of people who when presented with an original Van Gogh would still find time to complain about the frame. But as this week's worn on I've started to realise that you need to be a certain age to appreciate all what's gone on over the past few days; the younger among you may simply not have the reference required to really understand just how significant things have been.

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Take the Final Fantasy VII Remake: I was just nine-years-old when the original deployed. To tell the truth, it wasn't until many years later that I gave the title the attention that it deserved, but for my age bracket – already giddy on the new gaming era that the PSone had ushered in – it was a defining game. Not only was it the first role-playing release that many of my friends played, but it was also, for many in my generation, one of the first titles that proved that gaming could be about more than plumbers chowing down on magic mushrooms.

The Last Guardian has been a focal point of my career for the past six years, and I've written dozens of articles on it – it's a special game

The writing and characters may not be as strong as many remember them, but that's not necessarily the point – there's an emotional connection there. And the same very much applies to Shenmue, a game that pioneered the ubiquitous open world format that's so familiar today. While it's Grand Theft Auto III that's often credited as the first sandbox game, Yu Suzuki's occasionally mundane quest for revenge in the distinctly ordinary setting of industrial Yokosuka had done it all a couple of years before Rockstar's release came onto the scene.

But for a new generation of gamers, ushered into the industry by the blue hues of the PlayStation 2 or perhaps even the lucid greens of the Xbox 360, it's difficult to understand just what these games mean. That's not elitism by the way, it's just the way things are – the exact same way I struggle to feel the reverence for Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle, because they're both a little bit before my time. Certainly, I can recognise the impact that the old LucasArts games had – but they don't make my stomach churn like the opening bars of Sedge Tree.

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Granted, the scenario with The Last Guardian is a little different, as it's a title that neither my peers nor I ever got a chance to actually play – but even that carries a special place in my heart. I was at university when PlayStation Lifestyle – of all places – leaked the very first footage of the game. Push Square was but three months old at the time, and that shows in the basic, amateur article that I wrote on the reveal. But what you have to understand is that this title has been a focal point of my career for the past six years, and I've written dozens of stories on it in that time – it's a special game.

For me personally, there were other highlights outside of the abovementioned trifecta: Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a title that I've been waiting for ever since I wrapped up Faith's inaugural story; Horizon: Zero Dawn looks to finally realise the potential of Guerrilla Games, a developer that I've always had a soft spot for; and even stuff like RIGS has helped me to better understand the appeal of Project Morpheus. But when my colleagues and I describe this as the greatest E3 ever, I hope the reasons outlined above will help you to better understand why.

Do you agree with Sammy that this has been the greatest E3 of all time, or are you still struggling to see what all of the fuss is about? Dream big in the comments section below.