Most Likely to Invent Something: Poncho (Quadrilateral Cowboy)
Let’s be clear: Plenty of people at Waypoint High School have already invented stuff. The hero of Alfegard pretty much only takes shop class. Wrench introduces a new gadget with each new prank—and there’s a new prank at least once a week. And don’t even get me started about the contingent of Korvax transfer students.
But Poncho, like any good quadrilateral cowboy, is different. She isn’t happy in a lab—real or virtual—and insists on field work. Which is good, because that’s where she does her best thinking. She’s devoted to hands-on research, experimentation, and iteration in a way none of the other inventors are. And that’s why when it’s time for Poncho to make something groundbreaking, it’s not just going to be an invention, it’s going to be the invention. —Austin Walker
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Most Committed: Central Officer Bradford (XCOM 2)
Some of us were unsure about John Bradford when he came to this school. He was a little older, a little more gruff, and we didn’t know if he would fit with our tight-knit group. However, now that he’s the longest-serving Team Manager for the football team, we know that he’s on our team until the end. No one will ever forget our sophomore year where Bradford helped win the homecoming game by lobbing a hotdog at the opposing coach from behind cover. A full month of detention was nothing if it meant that we would win, and Bradford will always be the Most Committed to us. —Cameron Kunzelman
Most Likely to Win ‘So You Think You Can Dance’: The Head (Headlander)
These days, if you tell someone a game is Metroid-influenced, you might elicit a yawn. People aren’t over the basic premise of exploring a place with areas gated off by powers you haven’t unlocked, but that alone is no longer enough. So maybe it made perfect, if unexpected, sense for a studio like Double Fine to step in and find a new angle, as they did with Headlander.
Beautiful, charming, and a blast to play, Headlander proved one of 2016’s pleasant surprises. I’m not usually one to spend my time finding every little collectible, but Headlander‘s world was juuuuuust the right size, with juuuuuust the right distance between secrets, that I found myself trying to hit 100%, if only because I didn’t want to yet leave the world. There’s something to be said for a game knowing the right amount of time to stick around, and Headlander nailed that.
Did I mention it’s pretty? Because, gosh, it’s so f’ing pretty. And did I mention there’s a button dedicated to making characters dance? Because, gosh, you can make everyone dance. —Patrick Klepek
Biggest Overachiever: Geralt (Witcher 3 Blood & Wine)
CD Projekt RED is making the next few years deeply unfair to every other open world game. Not only did they knock The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt out of the park—I’m still thinking about how I screwed up my romantic choice—but they’ve managed to shame every developer when it comes to releasing DLC, too. Calling Blood & Wine an expansion sells the second (and final) add-on for The Witcher 3 short; it’s got more going on than games that charge full price.
Just having “stuff” to do isn’t what made The Witcher 3 special, nor what makes Blood & Wine special, either. It’s that CD Projekt RED puts an emphasis on meaningful stuff to do, and even when it packs the world with fluff, it lets you know how to avoid that fluff if you don’t want it.
(I’m looking at you, endless fetch quests in Final Fantasy XV that don’t amount to anything.)
If anything, Blood & Wine gets to the point even faster by being an expansion. Nothing is wasted, everything is interesting. It underscores what I so deeply appreciated about The Witcher 3: CD Projekt RED is a developer who respects the time you invest in their game. —Patrick Klepek
Related, on Waypoint: Now that it’s come to a close, it’s fair to say that Dark Souls series has been reliable in a way that most series have not been. Read why we think so right here.
