Guessed by @UnderwaterFunktown
As usual, Skyward Sword is the last Zelda game to show its face on my list, although the position it's at is a bit of a shock. This is the most recent 3D Zelda I relived this year, playing through most of it on the Switch a few months ago before watching a friend's first time through the game. The overall feeling over both of those experiences was a certain disappointment. I think some of that can be blamed on the game's new version - not that the port does much wrong, really, but the controls just aren't the same on the Joy-Cons as they were on the old Wiimote and Nunchuk, they feel worse in both feel and precision. I don't know if it's just the controls, though, probably not, but where there used to be a truly magical feeling whenever I sat down to play Skyward Sword, now it felt more like just another game. Albeit, still a great one.
With or without its magic, this game still shines. It still has some of the best level design in all of the industry, with a few of its dungeons standing out amongst the best in the Zelda series. It still has an amazing orchestral soundtrack that elevates every second of the experience. It still has the best narrative in any Nintendo-developed game, one that effortlessly retcons the origins of The Legend of Zelda with fantastic writing and characters, in a coming-of-age journey that genuinely feels like a legend.
Last year, when I dropped Skyward Sword out of the top 2 for the first time, I said that I still viewed it as my favorite game ever, alongside two others. This year, though, it's dropped officially out of "favorite game ever" status, and it saddens me a bit to say that, but I still love it and to be honest, it's amazing that I still feel this way after having replayed it so many times. It'd feel weird to write Skyward Sword in that banner up there and not color it either gold, silver or bronze, so to make it feel at least a little more special, I gave it the green Link proudly wears. It was the last time he wore it in a console game, and what a send off it was.
