Virginia

 PC
User Score
5.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 151 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 39 out of 151
  2. Mixed: 52 out of 151
  3. Negative: 60 out of 151

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  1. TenchuuKhan
    Sep 24, 2016
    0
    The game works like this:
    You are in a scene. You walk a bit, click. Game jumps to the next scene.
    This can feel awkward at times but it works and so the game starts to tell the story of a young FBI Agent being sent on a case together with a colleague that is under internal investigation... by her. So far, so good. So we are on this case about a missing boy... and I have no idea what    The game works like this:
    You are in a scene. You walk a bit, click. Game jumps to the next scene.
    This can feel awkward at times but it works and so the game starts to tell the story of a young FBI Agent being sent on a case together with a colleague that is under internal investigation... by her.

    So far, so good.
    So we are on this case about a missing boy... and I have no idea what happened to him because suddenly it's all about that internal investigation thing. So our colleague finds out that we are investigating her, she gets pissed, we become friends again... sort of.

    Then we get locked up for absolutely no reason. Like... wtf is happening?
    And from then on the game just spits random scenes at you of a fictional life, then we're back in the cell throwing in an acid trip... why are we even doing this?
    Then more random trippy scenes.... The End

    Bottom line - the game promises to tell a story in a unique way... and then it decides to not tell a story.

    So it's a non-game non-story experience - can't even give 1 star for that because that would mean the game does something right... which it doesn't.    … Expand
  2. Crescendo
    Sep 28, 2016
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Before anything is said, I have to admit that I dabble a little in David Lynch films every now and then, but ultimately have to say that I am not particularly fond of his works... I love the atmosphere, but I mislike stories that shroud themselves so deep in mystery that there is no actual 'true' story behind it, just an invitation to interpret it yourself. While sometimes fitting, I more often than not feel disappointed. And that is pretty much what I am going to say about the game with a lot of more words beneath.
    I am just writing this because this game is very clearly inspired by the series Twin Peaks.

    As said before, this game is pretty much a jump from cutscene to cutscene with no choices (and therefore consequences), so far so good - I knew that beforehand, this is nothing new. What is new (to me at least) was the absence of a vocal narrative - no word is spoken in this game. Which DOES add to the already thick atmosphere, it really encourages you to observe and think about your environment which I actually really liked. The graphics and art style is rather bland, the (outside) environments do look pretty great.

    SPOILERS:
    From reading a few (spoilerless) reviews before playing the game, I arrogantly thought people just didn't pay enough attention and focus to follow the story... Well, it turns out it is too confusing for me as well... It is easy enough to follow everything until after ~two thirds of the game, when the lines between reality, dream, trip, persons become very blurry. Which actually sounds great when reading it, but it isn't that exciting per se, just very confusing...We see the main character rise in ranks (in a few unsubtile cutscenes), when she notices that the case she started out with is still unsovled. So the scene jumps back to where the two main characters are (for reasons I didn't fully understand) locked up, the main character drops LSD from the evidence envelope she carries with her god knows how while locked in, trips out through a bunch of cutscenes that are woven around the people, locations and events you witnessed and...peaks in a cacophony of seemingly disconnected scenes and then ends with no real conclusion to tie everything together.

    A smarter man than me can possibly find a reason for all that we saw, but I get the nagging feeling there is no 'true' story behind it, and it welcomes you to interpret it as you wish. Which can be nice, and if it was the first of it's kind I witnessed, I would have maybe liked it.... but this style of ending a game, book or film more and more seems like taking the easy way out to me - Instead of writing another ending that 'was here before', you just drop a lot of different impressions on the viewers and let them think they missed something or let them put the pieces together the way they want to, so they can't be disappointed.

    So long story short, I did like the game, but like so many others, it chooses to confuse instead of telling a story. I don't need games to hold my hand, but I'd still prefer that to putting me on rails with no choices whatsoever and then whilst obfuscating the story on purpose.

    For all my negative criticism, it is a game that can easily be a 7-8 for you if you do actually enjoy such things.    … Expand
  3. yamman
    Sep 24, 2016
    5
    Sorry, I'd love to recommend this game, but it just didn't do it for me.

    I have nothing against mostly narrative 'walkie' experiences - I loved 'Dear Esther' which was like a haunting eulogy/poem, and liked 'Everybody's Gone To The Rapture' with it's small town dramas set against an apocalyptic backdrop. 'Gone Home' was nice too with the house revealing bits and pieces of the    Sorry, I'd love to recommend this game, but it just didn't do it for me.

    I have nothing against mostly narrative 'walkie' experiences - I loved 'Dear Esther' which was like a haunting eulogy/poem, and liked 'Everybody's Gone To The Rapture' with it's small town dramas set against an apocalyptic backdrop. 'Gone Home' was nice too with the house revealing bits and pieces of the characters' past.

    I think the difference here is that there's absolutely no dialogue, text, ANYTHING except animation and music. So it's all left up to your imagination as to what's going on. The problem for me was that the storytelling just wasn't strong or interesting enough to grab me at any point, even though the music kept trying to convince me that I was taking part in 'epic' scenes. When the 'revelations' come at the end, they make little sense, emotionally or intellectually even if you've been following all the 'clues' along the way.

    I've heard some comparisons to 'Twin Peaks' but other than an obvious homage scene in a roadside bar with a sound-alike tune playing, it reminded me more of 'The X Files'. The music especially was very very reminiscent of 'The X Files'. Imagine an episode of 'The X Files' without dialogue. In first person. That jump cuts around. And you're not sure what's present/past/future/hallucinations. Which is the major issue here... other than some basic plot, I was never quite sure what's going on, why, or what meaning it had in the grander scheme of things... so I never got caught up in it.

    It sort of feels like it's going to be playing a detective game... but you don't do any detecting or figure anything out. You just sort of click through scene after scene. If you do happen to walk around... you can occasionally pick up a flower or a feather, which at the beginning you assume there must be some meaning or point to, but the meaning never really comes...

    Overall the experience was a little too willfully vague and arty for my tastes and left me cold. Points for a nice art style, lighting etc. While the music was well orchestrated, again it felt a little heavy handed without knowing exactly what was going on.

    Even for ~$10... it's hard to recommend this game. Emotionally it didn't grab me. Intellectually it was too vague for me to feel like I was figuring anything out. Mechanically there's really nothing to do other than scan for the next hotspot. Narratively the story is pretty slight and doesn't hold much weight because you're perpetually waiting for clarity which never comes.

    Advice for their next game? Steer a little less on the obscure side, just a little, if you want your players to be able to get wrapped up in the tale you're telling.

    2.5/5.    … Expand
  4. KamenRiderDark
    Sep 28, 2016
    0
    Speaking as a movie lover, Virginia is a pretty fascinating story. Imagine if David Lynch directed the pilot episode of The X-Files. It has some great visuals and a soild score. It's worth it to at least watch a stream if you're into this kind of story.

    As a gamer, and as someone who loves "walking sims" and artistic games, there is no reason that this should have been told as a game    Speaking as a movie lover, Virginia is a pretty fascinating story. Imagine if David Lynch directed the pilot episode of The X-Files. It has some great visuals and a soild score. It's worth it to at least watch a stream if you're into this kind of story.

    As a gamer, and as someone who loves "walking sims" and artistic games, there is no reason that this should have been told as a game instead of movie. You have no agency, there is no sense of exploration, you can't affect any outcome, and you never have any option to choose. You pretty much walk through a series of very linear levels with usually only one object to interact with at any given time.    … Expand
  5. Tubey
    Sep 24, 2016
    0
    You're thinking this is a "troll" review, right? No, it's not. See, I never give a zero to a game. I always give at least a one, as a game, at the very least, usually lives up the bare minimum standard of attempting to be a game.

    The reason this gets a zero from me is because I'm being asked to review it as a game, when it is not a game - it is an interactive movie. And in this case,    You're thinking this is a "troll" review, right? No, it's not. See, I never give a zero to a game. I always give at least a one, as a game, at the very least, usually lives up the bare minimum standard of attempting to be a game.

    The reason this gets a zero from me is because I'm being asked to review it as a game, when it is not a game - it is an interactive movie. And in this case, the interactive part barely exists.

    I challenge anyone to answer me this - what would be different, at all, about this 'game' if you just watched a YouTube longplay of it? You'd get the same visuals, largely the same pace, the same story, the same music - indeed, the same everything except you don't press a button every so often.

    That's not a game! I'm really not trying to be an elitist douche about this, as I'm just stating a fact - a game is interactive and allows a player agency to make their own decisions. Going back as early as Pong, the player had the option of moving up and down to guess the direction of the ball and bounce it back a certain way. This game is just a movie. Honestly, that's all it is. If you played this in a cinema, and invited people to press a big red button every time they saw an object on screen, it'd be the same game.

    So, as a 'game', it gets a zero. As a movie, it's actually not that bad and I'd score it a five or whatever, as despite being pretentious, the story that they have chosen is well directed for the most part with a "show don't tell" structure. It has infinitely more in common with a movie than a game, so why isn't this in the movie section as a direct to DVD movie? The 'gameplay' aspects could be done by a DVD remote control.

    I'll never understand why review sites cream their pants over this type of thing. It really isn't new - remember the Phillips CDi? Night Trap? Plumbers Don't Wear Ties? Virginia is in every way a classier version of those with up to date graphics and somehow less gameplay!

    If Titanic had QTEs that said "Press X to grab the wooden door", "Tap Y to shag in a car", would that be a game? A discussion needs to be had about how these things are classified, because while they are still being marketed as full games, they are conning people into buying a thing they didn't expect from a game. At the very least, it'd be nice to see, as a standard, these things put the sentence "An Interactive Movie" on the front cover.    … Expand
  6. Pendrodamus
    Sep 25, 2016
    1
    There's not enough video game, especially when the product is being sold as a game. Your interaction is so minimized that the game doesn't even ask you to walk around. You'll barely be allowed to move around a single room before it decides to jump cut yu to the next part of the plot. Your actions also have no bearing on the plot, and at no point is your skill ever required to actuallyThere's not enough video game, especially when the product is being sold as a game. Your interaction is so minimized that the game doesn't even ask you to walk around. You'll barely be allowed to move around a single room before it decides to jump cut yu to the next part of the plot. Your actions also have no bearing on the plot, and at no point is your skill ever required to actually progress. My advice? Watch it on youtube, you won't miss a thing.

    Does it hold up as an experience, though? No, not really. Though it attempts to be minimalistic without telling you anything through words, it still leaves too many questions unanswered, and because we never get to know the characters, there's no reason to care about them. Thus when the experience asks us to feel sad, there's no precedent, so you're left feeling nothing. The worst part of it all is that there's nothing inherently wrong with the story. It's not so bad that I can at least laugh at it. It's actualy boring, which is worse than being offensively bad.    … Expand
  7. Thilus
    Sep 27, 2016
    3
    Not a game, not an experience, not really a walking simulator either. Hard to categorize this title, but one thing is for sure - it's awkward.

    There is some story, but Virginia won't allow you to follow it, because it will chaoticaly jump from scene to scene before you could even read half the text written on files. The characters are bland, and not only because they won't say a word,    Not a game, not an experience, not really a walking simulator either. Hard to categorize this title, but one thing is for sure - it's awkward.

    There is some story, but Virginia won't allow you to follow it, because it will chaoticaly jump from scene to scene before you could even read half the text written on files. The characters are bland, and not only because they won't say a word, but because it's very hard to follow on who? where? what? why? The visuals are fine, but the world is as lifeless as it could be. You basically wander around empty spaces looking for a next spot to click (which is incredibly easy, considering that the mouse cursor changes after you hit a live spot).

    The only strong point is the score played by the Philharmonic Orchestra from Prague. That's why I'm giving this game a 3. Other than that, I'd tell you to stay away from this one. If you have to, watch it on youtube or something. It takes around two, two-and-a-half hours tops, and you'll be able to rewind the boring parts. For me it was a no-no.    … Expand
  8. SuperkenGaming
    Sep 23, 2016
    6
    Virginia
    Interactive Confusion
    Virginia is a first person thriller where you play as an fbi agent during an investigation of a missing person…. The game starts by telling you this story is based on true events, and a lot of weird stuff happens, so I’m not too sure how true that is.. This game is really all over the place and I don’t even understand why some things were in the story, or    Virginia
    Interactive Confusion
    Virginia is a first person thriller where you play as an fbi agent during an investigation of a missing person….
    The game starts by telling you this story is based on true events, and a lot of weird stuff happens, so I’m not too sure how true that is..
    This game is really all over the place and I don’t even understand why some things were in the story, or why they mattered, and I came to no conclusions at the end…
    It’s really a jumbled mess…
    This isn’t so much a game as it is a 1 and a half hr long interactive movie…
    You do nothing but occasionally tap x or find an object to interact with and the story pushes on.. Or back. Or side to side. In dreams... drug trips
    Again, it jumps all over the place…
    The world in Virginia though is absolutely gorgeous…
    Easily one of the best looking games I’ve played this year...
    Walking through the small sections I did was a very enjoyable experience…
    The mood and setting fits the story perfectly…
    But again, it’s pretty hard to call this a game… any more than reading along to a mystery novel is a game...
    You don’t make choices…
    And the characters in this world don’t talk at all…
    You have to read body language to get any sense of what’s going on…
    and even then it’s still tough as there seems to be like 5 different stories going on at once, and out of order…
    Virginia is beautiful, but a mess… and not a beautiful mess…
    But I’m only 1 person... other critics seem to be in love with this game, calling it emotionally powerful and thought provoking… but I just don’t see it.
    I felt like overall this game accomplished nothing but feeling like one of the most movie like games to date, but the story and its delivery just didn’t do it for me
    I Give Virginia
    a 6.0/10    … Expand
  9. aditya1101
    Oct 5, 2017
    3
    I thought I would like this game a lot as I've liked a lot of similar games. But I just really did not like the way that the story was presented in this game. The lack of any dialogue whatsoever seems cool at first, but it ends up becoming a major hindrance because in order to compensate, the game goes really overboard in trying to get you to understand what's going on. This makes a lot ofI thought I would like this game a lot as I've liked a lot of similar games. But I just really did not like the way that the story was presented in this game. The lack of any dialogue whatsoever seems cool at first, but it ends up becoming a major hindrance because in order to compensate, the game goes really overboard in trying to get you to understand what's going on. This makes a lot of the game feel really cheesy, which really cheapened the experience for me. Also, I thought the art looked great, but I was underwhelmed by it while actually playing.… Expand
  10. horrido
    Oct 2, 2016
    0
    The problem with this game is, well, i's more an interactive story than a video game. That, and it violates rule #1 in video games - leave your politics at home.
  11. zybch
    Dec 9, 2016
    0
    Avoid at all costs if you actually want a 'game'. This is NOTHING even slightly resembling a game.
    And on xbox the controller lag is almost a second, and framerate jumping between 10 and 15fps.
    Its a mess, and those idiots and sites drooling over it must either have been paid to gush, or are on some pretty strong acid. This is the absolute worse game I've played in years, and I    Avoid at all costs if you actually want a 'game'. This is NOTHING even slightly resembling a game.
    And on xbox the controller lag is almost a second, and framerate jumping between 10 and 15fps.
    Its a mess, and those idiots and sites drooling over it must either have been paid to gush, or are on some pretty strong acid.
    This is the absolute worse game I've played in years, and I generally like the so-called 'walking simulator' type experiences. This was just pretentious hipster trash!    … Expand
  12. InnerWarChild
    Sep 23, 2016
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The hell did I just play?

    I went into this thinking I would be hands on in solving a crime, but in reality you just go through the motions and "play along" so to speak, taking yourself where the game leads you. Much is lost in my opinion with no dialogue. It really pulls you out of the narrative because you're not used to living in a world where everyone is mute. Does it work without it, sure, mostly, but some things can be a bit confusing.

    SPOILER TIME:
    I was following along well enough until at some point, the two investigators get arrested for seemingly no real reason, and then your character literally takes a dose of acid in the jail cell and somehow solves the crime i guess while in her own head space? After that point it's hard to tell when or if she ever snaps back to reality or if the ending I'm seeing is still just fantasy.
    END SPOILER

    Should you buy?

    It's a short game, like only two hours.. Think of it as a silent playable cartoon, and probably worth the ten bucks considering the effort put into it, and it's interesting enough, but as I said, the end may or may not do it for you, I know it didn't for me.    … Expand
  13. Sjalka
    Sep 24, 2016
    8
    Virginia is a great experience ( not so much a great game )

    It has very good music, produces an amazingly immersive atmosphere with stylized, colourful and vibrant colours. It tells a story with images, cinematic cuts instead of walls of text. Games that primarily tell a story need to make compromises. If you include quicktime events (telltale games) it can easily break immersion and    Virginia is a great experience ( not so much a great game )

    It has very good music, produces an amazingly immersive atmosphere with stylized, colourful and vibrant colours. It tells a story with images, cinematic cuts instead of walls of text.

    Games that primarily tell a story need to make compromises. If you include quicktime events (telltale games) it can easily break immersion and disrupt the flow of the story. If you include riddles (Myst-like) it often boils down to a journey from one riddle bottleneck to another. If you allow total freedom of movement and investigation - you can only really advance your story in short bits (mission based).

    So if you want to tell a coherend story (kind of like a book) - you have to restrict the players involvement. Which in turn causes the player to go from being a protagonist to a spectator.

    In Virginia - the player is a spectator. You have no real influence on the story. You do not have choices to make that can fundamentally change the course of the story. All you can do is advance the story at your pace - sort of.

    What makes this story stand out is that there is rather little exposition. There is no narrator, no talking. It is all in the images. There is not even an "inner voice" (or a protagonists thoughts) ... so the player can either understand a scene, interpret a scene or not.

    Personally - i found this very artistic and stylish. And i had a lot of fun just "being" there - getting immersed by the atmosphere and the imagery. I can however understand that one might be disappointed. Not only is there little replay value (you may replay it ... just as you may re-watch a movie. But it is not the same as watching it for the first time) - but there simply is not much "to do".

    That is/might be a problem for the developers of this game (such games in general) ...

    When the player becomes such an irrelevant element in the game ... and the story becomes the one and most dominant factor ... why buy the game when you can probably watch someone else play on YouTube.

    Still - for me - it is a clear 8/10 for a beautifully crafted and told story well worth the time. (right before or after i go back to something like Fallout 4 - where the player controls everything)    … Expand
  14. Ryha2000
    Sep 30, 2016
    9
    So I just played Virginia. I owe the experience to the great gaming website Killscreen(https://killscreen.com/articles/virginia-vague-jumble-ideas/) ... which wrote a rather scathing review of it. Something about this review gave me pause though. The author traces the game's cinematic heritage, from X-Files to Twin Peaks and then going as far back as the silent films of the 1920’s. In theSo I just played Virginia. I owe the experience to the great gaming website Killscreen(https://killscreen.com/articles/virginia-vague-jumble-ideas/) ... which wrote a rather scathing review of it. Something about this review gave me pause though. The author traces the game's cinematic heritage, from X-Files to Twin Peaks and then going as far back as the silent films of the 1920’s. In the end it concludes that the game fails to live up to it’s heritage, saying “the game dives into an irreparable gulf between the way a film camera unrelentingly directs your gaze and the way a first-person videogame camera yields to player control, and all its mistakes begin to snowball from there.”

    The critique picks up steam from there and while it admits "There are admirable attempts here at dealing with sexism, racial prejudice, and even gaslighting" it is essentially hostile. It’s primary complaint is that the narrative fails to give the player sufficient autonomy going so far as to say “But there is no reason, not one, that the player needs to be afforded control in any of Virginia’s scenes—except as a sop to interactivity in a game that otherwise evinces no interest in player control whatsoever.” At the same time it complains that the interactivity the game does provide, which is to say the ability to navigate the space of the scenes and interact with them in minimal ways is ruins its the cinematic aspirations saying “The clarity of meaning that can arise from a well-timed cut is almost entirely lost on the roving camera of a first-person videogame”.

    All these contradictions and strong emotional responses from a source that is usually thoughtful and collected intrigued me... Behind the protests of the author I heard the all too familiar ‘But it’s not even a game’ that I have heard from more traditional game media outlets when they were faced with games like Dear Esther or Gone Home. Normally Killscreen is more self aware and interested in that kind of storytelling in games, so why had Virginia offended it’s sensibilities so much? It all gave me the sense that if I should investigate I might well find a game worth playing, and so I did.

    So, Virginia...

    The short of it is that I think in this case Killscreen missed the point almost entirely. They are right about many of the game's merits and some of it’s flaws, I won’t argue that it’s a perfect work of art. But it is a work of art and the reviewer’s assertion that there is not even one reason that the player needs to be given control gets directly to the heart of it, because there is indeed one very important reason. The thing that sets Virginia apart from other games or from movies is that you are not either passively watching the experience of characters as in cinema or playing through a game yourself. You are moving through the story AS the character.

    On the title screen of the game the text below the title reads “Press x to take a trip”, not press x to play the game, this is the first clue as to what is about to happen here.

    The limitations on your actions in Virginia are not the result of lazy developers, they are the expression of the choices of the character. Choices that are sometimes limited by the personality of the character, sometimes limited by their race or gender. When you have no choice but to open your purse and open a tube of lipstick and put it on before you can leave the room it is because that is the experience of the character. Welcome to her world.

    The constant cinematic cuts mean that you are not walking down a corridor because it is between you and the next cut scene you are walking down it because the developers wanted you to have that experience. Rather than just venting the frustration and discomfort that it causes ask why the developers included it and what your response says about the character and about you as a player.

    The first person perspective is critical to this attempt to embody the player in the body of the main character. It is subtly and well done and I believe has powerful impact in many scenes. From the first time you look down and see the color of your skin and shape of your body to the juxtaposition of perspective between the scene where you receive your badge to the later scene of an imagined future where you are giving a badge to a new female agent on that same stage.

    The narrative itself is very challenging. It is filled with both flashbacks, imagined futures, dreams and in the case of the last minutes of the game an intense acid trip, yes we see what you did with the wording of the instructions on the title screen, how very clever of you.

    Does the game make sense and present a tidy comprehensible story? Not so much. Is it something new and important, something that we will look back on as foundational to our art form in 50 years... probably.    … Expand
  15. Trunkis
    Sep 28, 2016
    0
    Atari's ET 2600 has more narrative falling down a pixelated well than this mess.

    This is the problem with hipstery creators... they don't get that they don't get what videogaming is all about.
  16. Baeraad
    Sep 29, 2016
    8
    This game (though it's not really a game in the strictest sense - there is no actual game-play, only exploring areas and moving the plot forward in set ways by interacting with the highlighted objects and characters) is certainly an interesting experience. There is a lot of detail and nuance in the surroundings and the actions of the NPCs, and the world feels real enough that at times IThis game (though it's not really a game in the strictest sense - there is no actual game-play, only exploring areas and moving the plot forward in set ways by interacting with the highlighted objects and characters) is certainly an interesting experience. There is a lot of detail and nuance in the surroundings and the actions of the NPCs, and the world feels real enough that at times I actually felt afraid to make the player character turn around for fear of what I would see. Given that there is literally no way to get hurt or be set back, that's an impressive level of psychological impact.

    Having that said, there were some parts that I thought were vague and confusing - and not in the interesting what-is-really-going-on-here, is-this-dream-or-reality way that the game strives for (and often, in fairness, succeeds at). Given how much the game depends on a sense of immersion, any moment when you're not sure where you are and what you're doing is a problem. To be sure, it's very impressive how often you DO understand what's going on without a single line of dialog or even much in the way of written records, but still - at times, I felt like the game was failing to either show OR tell, and dropped me out of the story as a result.

    All in all, I would consider it flawed but still interesting. If you have twenty bucks to spend on a few hours of strange and haunting experiences, I'd recommend it.    … Expand
  17. basterfeldt
    Sep 28, 2016
    9
    Phenomenal, interactive narrative experience.

    There's no high scores but the act of interactivity in the thing made it more compelling for me. I'm not going to write a long review explaining whether or not this is a game (it could only be experienced on a machine that allows the user to control parts, interact with areas and feel like they're a part of it) but I will say you should play    Phenomenal, interactive narrative experience.

    There's no high scores but the act of interactivity in the thing made it more compelling for me. I'm not going to write a long review explaining whether or not this is a game (it could only be experienced on a machine that allows the user to control parts, interact with areas and feel like they're a part of it) but I will say you should play it. Play it and then talk about your interpretation with anyone that will listen. The thing is pretty oblique, but oh man have I enjoyed dwelling on the thing since I first saw the credits roll.    … Expand
  18. gygessgygess
    Oct 1, 2016
    10
    Wow, what an experience! I played it at a friends house, have no plans on replaying it, yet went ahead and paid for it to support what the devs have done here.

    If you're a fan of Blendo games (Gravity Bone, Thirty Flights of Loving, Quadrilateral Cowboy), but also like the thoughtfulness and drama of The Chinese Room (Dear Esther, Everybodys Gone to The Rapture) than you will love this    Wow, what an experience! I played it at a friends house, have no plans on replaying it, yet went ahead and paid for it to support what the devs have done here.

    If you're a fan of Blendo games (Gravity Bone, Thirty Flights of Loving, Quadrilateral Cowboy), but also like the thoughtfulness and drama of The Chinese Room (Dear Esther, Everybodys Gone to The Rapture) than you will love this game.

    Don't listen to people complaining about the game length, they really need to understand game development more. No good film or piece of music begins by setting out how long it will be. Gamers need to start thinking quality, not quantity. The two hours it takes to complete is paced perfectly, had it lasted much longer than attention would start to fade.

    Since there's a demo available, I'll just end off with a comment on the music. The score is fantastic, unbelievably high levels of production value, and is a step in the right direction for the industry. Play with headphones! The sountrack adds a lot of emotion, and I don't see that as a bad thing at all. You must experience it.    … Expand
  19. Tractorhands
    May 6, 2018
    1
    Not sure where to start with this one!
    I'm generally a big fan of the 'walking simulator' genre; story is important to me in gaming, and this genre often seems the most effective at communicating a narrative. This is not the case with Virginia.
    Tonally, it's a bit of a mess. Initially it gives the impression of being a procedural investigation where you are inspecting the disappearance    Not sure where to start with this one!
    I'm generally a big fan of the 'walking simulator' genre; story is important to me in gaming, and this genre often seems the most effective at communicating a narrative. This is not the case with Virginia.
    Tonally, it's a bit of a mess. Initially it gives the impression of being a procedural investigation where you are inspecting the disappearance of a boy along side an internal investigation of another FBI agent. Then things get a bit weird, a non-linear narrative comes out to play, along with some dream sequences; two things that normally wouldn't cause an issue, but due to Virginia lacking any kind of dialogue at all, it just causes confusion.
    A lack of dialogue isn't necessarily a bad thing, however you're going to need something consistent and reliable to replace this, and Virginia fails to deliver heavily on this front. There are files and items that contain text that you hope will contain clues to help the story make sense, however the game doesn't give you chance to fully read a file before you are forced into the next scene.

    As other people have said, the music is the only saving grace of Virginia, however the score tends to get subconsciously pushed aside as you attempt to work out what is going on, which is a waste,

    The final scene attempts to explain what the game is actually about by somehow combining heavy-handed metaphors with the vague "story" elements.
    I'm still not sure what it is about.    … Expand
  20. ChoicestGames
    Feb 15, 2019
    7
    Walking simulators have certainly come along way since the likes of Dear Esther was released 6 years ago and I'm starting to genuinely enjoy some of them. Virginia definitely has its moments thanks to its 1990s setting, a beautiful orchestral score and so many underlying themes and imagery, you'll be going around in circles for days figuring out what actually happened during the two hoursWalking simulators have certainly come along way since the likes of Dear Esther was released 6 years ago and I'm starting to genuinely enjoy some of them. Virginia definitely has its moments thanks to its 1990s setting, a beautiful orchestral score and so many underlying themes and imagery, you'll be going around in circles for days figuring out what actually happened during the two hours you played the game. However, the fact the game is so perplexing and open to interpretation, along with the fact it's quite short, will no doubt infuriate others.… Expand
  21. PublicNuisance
    Feb 15, 2021
    8
    The main menu of Virginia says “Press Enter to Take a Trip”. That is about as perfect a way to describe the game as I can: “A Trip”. This is like if David Lynch made a game. The whole thing feels like an acid trip of sorts. There is no dialogue at all so the game depends on facial reactions; music; and visual clues to make sure you can figure out what is going on. Luckily for VirginiaThe main menu of Virginia says “Press Enter to Take a Trip”. That is about as perfect a way to describe the game as I can: “A Trip”. This is like if David Lynch made a game. The whole thing feels like an acid trip of sorts. There is no dialogue at all so the game depends on facial reactions; music; and visual clues to make sure you can figure out what is going on. Luckily for Virginia those three things were the game’s strong points. The music was especially fantastic throughout the game. The graphics stunning but had a very simplistic quality that managed to be more detailed than I expected in it’s own way. I won’t pretend I understood the whole game but I understood enough to appreciate the story and the ability of the developers to intertwine various stories to all flow together without using voice acting. Gameplay wise it is mostly a walking sim as you are finding what objects to interact with.

    I played Virginia on Linux using Valve’s Proton. It never crashed on me and I didn’t notice any glitches. The game only has options for resolution; motion blur and a toggle for AA. There is a frame limiter but it only had options for 30 and 60 FPS. I would have preferred a Vsync option. I left it at unlimited rather than 30 or 60. The game has an auto save system but it never tells you exactly when it’s saving so the one time I exited the game and reloaded my game I was further back then expected. I would have preferred a manual save system. Alt-Tab Works. The game’s performance was flawless.

    Game Engine: Unity
    Save System: Auto
    Disk Space Used: 4.04 GB
    Input Used: Keyboard + Mouse

    Details Used: 1080P; AA on; Motion Blur Off
    GPU Usage: 77-100 %
    VRAM Usage: 1498-2053 MB
    CPU Usage: 35-60 %
    RAM Usage: 3.1-3.6 GB
    Frame Rate: 79-228 FPS

    If you enjoy things like Twin Peaks; X-Files; or games such as Off-Peak or Brothers than you should try Virginia. It has a great story and music. It’s a bit out there sometimes and can be hard to figure out some details but this is one time it works in favour of the game in my opinion. I finished the game in ninety nine minutes and it felt like a natural length for the game, not rushed or dragged out. I paid $1.09 for Virginia on Steam, and full price for it on GOG. It is worth it’s current full price of $10.99 CAD.

    My Score: 8/10

    My System:

    AMD FX-6100 | 16GB DDR3-1333 | MSI RX 580 8GB Gaming X | Mesa 20.3.4 | Samsung 870 QVO 1TB | Manjaro 20.2.1 | Mate 1.24.1 | Kernel 5.10.15-1-MANJARO | Proton 5.13-6    … Expand
  22. dabyd1304
    Jan 8, 2017
    6
    Virginia supone una mezcla de todas las influencias que sus creadores hayan podido adquirir durante años en las series de televisión. Es un fan-service. Sin embargo, creo que tiene méritos propios. Si bien no se trata de un imprescindible, si que es un juego bastante curioso para aquellos a los que les guste sus influencias.
  23. Letiste-Gaming
    Oct 13, 2016
    7
    En conclusión, un título que no aspira a ser un grande ni lo intenta. Ni siquiera se podría catalogar casi de juego. Pero ofrece una gran atmósfera y una fantástica banda sonora.

    Si bien es cierto que la historia se desinfla y podría ser mejor, no deja de ser un juego muy curioso. Y más, para las menos de 2 horas que dura.
  24. dandalis
    Jan 16, 2017
    6
    This is a pretty wild and out there game - experience. Its obviosuly not trying to appeal to the mainstream gamer, even not to those who might like the more mainstream ''walking simulators'' like Vanishing of Ethan Carter. There is some walking involved in the game yes, but its not even torturing and areas you explore on foot are small in scale. Its going the linear narrative driven wayThis is a pretty wild and out there game - experience. Its obviosuly not trying to appeal to the mainstream gamer, even not to those who might like the more mainstream ''walking simulators'' like Vanishing of Ethan Carter. There is some walking involved in the game yes, but its not even torturing and areas you explore on foot are small in scale. Its going the linear narrative driven way where theres no dialogue, which will instantly turn a lot of people off, you have to interpret a lot of the plot on your own. Also the game plays out like a TV show where it will instantly jump from one scene to the other, even when youre interacting with the game, sometimes jumping forward when theres something you wanted to finish doing, which was bit annoying. I can see some will try to convince themselves that the game is pushing SJW agenda, but its really not.

    To be honest even i didnt fully understood the story, its constantly messing with your mind with these dream like sequences leaving you guessing whether whats happening is real or not, but i kinda liked it and enjoyed it, but then again i kinda didnt pay my fullest of attention many times and overlooked some of the plot elements. Then again i feel that the devs intended the game that way to introudce some confusion and mistery to the overall experience.

    I liked this game and thats that. And the soundtrack was nice, props to the composer and Prague Philharmonic orchestra.    … Expand
  25. Roke_
    Mar 23, 2017
    7
    Story was very interesting and mysterious and had interesting characters even though the characters didn't speak shows how good they got the characters across. But the game is very short as i finished it in about 2 hours and has no replay ability as you know the story.
  26. DeathKillerNOR
    Jul 18, 2021
    6
    {Personal Experience: Personal Experience}
    6/10 - Average.
    [While playing this game i didn't feel bored, but at the same time, it wasn't that special either. It was alright for what it's trying to be. It's a story-driven game around a missing person. It's alright to play once, but it isn't really anything special. It's a play once and done kinda game.] {GamePlay: World/Level Design,    {Personal Experience: Personal Experience}
    6/10 - Average.
    [While playing this game i didn't feel bored, but at the same time, it wasn't that special either.
    It was alright for what it's trying to be. It's a story-driven game around a missing person. It's alright to play once, but it isn't really anything special. It's a play once and done kinda game.]

    {GamePlay: World/Level Design, Quests/Missions/Objectives, Difficulity (Deffault/Normal), Co-Op/Multiplayer Aspects}
    5/10 – Mediocre.
    [The World design is alright, kinda cartoony. It works great for this game.
    It's a set story game, so there aren't really any Missions/Objectives during this game.
    There is no Co-Op or multiplayer in this game]

    {Narrative: Dialogue, Cutscenes}
    9/10 - Great.
    [The dialogue in this game works pretty well, and the cutscenes are a big part of this game.]

    {Visuals: Graphics, Motion Capture/Voice-Sync}
    7/10 – Good.
    [As i have said before, the art style of this game is kinda cartoony. With works for this game.
    I don't believe Motion Capture is being used in this game and there is no voice acting in this game either.
    It feels like a low-budget game, that uses its resources quite effectively.]

    {Technical: Bugs, Performance}
    9/10 - Great.
    [i found 1 bug witch the letters got bugged in Chapter 7.
    I can't say i noticed any performance issues during my PlayThrough.

    {Story: The Story}
    8/10 - Great.
    [The Story is good, but it's nothing special.]

    {Replayability: Replayability (Alternate Endings, Secrets, Multiplayer, etc)}
    5/10 – Bad.
    [This game is a play once and done kinda game

    "6/10 – Average.
    These recommendations come with a boatload of “ifs.
    It's only held back by a few issues (or stiff competition).
    Not always the best choice, but it can get the job done.
    There’s a good game in here somewhere, but you’ll have to know where to look, and perhaps turn a blind eye to some big drawbacks.”
    ~DeathKillerNOR~

    ⚠️ IN MY OPINION ⚠️    … Expand
  27. Alexb1096
    Jul 24, 2020
    5
    ITALIAN: Breve recensione
    Gioco brevissimo ma con una storia veramente densa, anche troppo.
    Graficamente molto curato, comprese le animazioni dei volti, e immenso comparto sonoro che si affida ad un'orchestra vera per compensare la totale assenza di dialoghi (anche scritti). Molto interessante la regia cinematografica anche nelle sequenze giocate, in cui ci saranno molti tagli    ITALIAN: Breve recensione
    Gioco brevissimo ma con una storia veramente densa, anche troppo.
    Graficamente molto curato, comprese le animazioni dei volti, e immenso comparto sonoro che si affida ad un'orchestra vera per compensare la totale assenza di dialoghi (anche scritti).
    Molto interessante la regia cinematografica anche nelle sequenze giocate, in cui ci saranno molti tagli (accompagnati dalla musica) per rendere più incalzante il ritmo della trama.

    I problemi subentrano nel gameplay e nella storia.
    Il gioco è un'avventura grafica in prima persona, in cui però non dovremo fare altro che raggiungere l'unico oggetto con cui si può interagire nell'ambiente oppure a volte addirittura aspettare. C'è qualche oggetto collezionabile sparso ma del tutto irrilevante.

    La trama infine parte in maniera abbastanza chiara ma poi, nonostante il titolo duri circa 2 ore, si complica in maniera incomprensibile rendendo l'esperienza piuttosto strana. Si empatizzerà abbastanza con i due personaggi principali ma in molte sequenze, soprattutto quelle più astratte e assurde, non si capirà davvero niente. Anche a storia conclusa non saprei dire cosa sia successo, tutto rimane vago e interpretabile in più modi.

    VOTO: 6/10 solo per grafica e colonna sonora    … Expand
  28. BgSilva98
    May 2, 2021
    6
    Virginia é um jogo, mas está mais para um filme, um jogo focado em narrativas, bem cinematográfico, sem uso de diálogos.
    O Objetivo principal do jogo é abrir portas, mas isso não quer dizer que o jogo seja ruim,
    Virginia é um jogo bem estranho e confuso, o game é contado em dias, porém não é contado linearmente, um forte ponto do game são os cortes que ocorrem durante o jogo, cortes que    Virginia é um jogo, mas está mais para um filme, um jogo focado em narrativas, bem cinematográfico, sem uso de diálogos.
    O Objetivo principal do jogo é abrir portas, mas isso não quer dizer que o jogo seja ruim,
    Virginia é um jogo bem estranho e confuso, o game é contado em dias, porém não é contado linearmente, um forte ponto do game são os cortes que ocorrem durante o jogo, cortes que avançam e voltam no tempo, isso traz um diferencial que poucos games tem hoje em dia, o final é confuso e abre margem para muitas teorias.
    Virginia possuí ótimos gráficos, trilha sonora e enredo agradável.
    Não é um estilo de jogo que posso falar que jogaria de novo, até porque em algumas partes o jogo bagunça tanto a sua cabeça que você se perde e acaba perdendo a vontade de continuar, não consegui descobrir o que esse jogo quis passar totalmente, porém da para se tirar bons ensinamentos para a vida, principalmente no final, valeu a curiosidade, nota geral 6/10.    … Expand
  29. Oznerol
    Mar 20, 2021
    4
    I have nothing against mostly narrative walkie experiences, indeed I love them.
    But I think you have to know how to do them, otherwise... trying to be brilliant and get boring .. it's really a snap.
    Too short, gameplay absent and a sense of nervousness at the conclusion of the game.
    I don't recommend it. To avoid.

Awards & Rankings

89
#89 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 36 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 36
  3. Negative: 3 out of 36
  1. CD-Action
    Jan 12, 2017
    70
    By constantly comparing their game to “Twin Peaks” and “True Detective” the developers set the bar so high that they could not fulfill expectations. Nevertheless Virginia is an interesting experiment worth your time (especially that it only takes two hours to complete). [13/2016, p.58]
  2. Edge Magazine
    Nov 15, 2016
    80
    One of the most quietly devastating moments involves a character simply shaking their head softly. [December 2016, p.110]
  3. Games Master UK
    Nov 9, 2016
    79
    An interactive story that blends dreamy police procedural with Lynchian nightmare to intriguing effect [Nov 2016, p.78]
See all critic reviews »