I'm not hating on Virginia because it's a "walking simulator" - in fact, I tend to enjoy these sorts of games provided they're done properly - but this one just didn't do it for me. There are certainly parts of this game that are very well done; the art direction is fitting and the soundtrack is nothing short of beautiful. One of the main goals the developers had in mind when creating this game was to tell a story without any spoken dialogue, and there are certain points in the plot where this goal is accomplished well. For example, you are able to infer that your partner for your newly assigned case isn't the most popular person in the FBI based on the fact that you have to walk down endless corridors and stairs to reach her office in the basement. Unfortunately, the developers made some unacceptable design choices at other points in the story, and it is because of these choices that I can't recommend this game.

Occasionally, Virginia relies on in-game text to present certain plot elements to the player. However, for reasons beyond my understanding, the developers thought it would be a good idea to yank the text away from the player after only several seconds (which is not nearly enough time to read everything). Because of this, it is entirely possible to miss significant parts of the story from as early as the beginning of the game. Even then, it is at least somewhat possible to understand what's happening throughout most of the story... until you reach the ending sequence. Now, I understand the idea of making just a few plot points left open to the viewer's interpretation. This can work very well if done properly, but Virginia leaves just about every part of its ending open to interpretation, to the point where I didn't have a clue as to what was going on when I played through it. After finishing the game, I searched online to see if I could make any sense of its confusing story. There were plenty of people who defended Virginia, claiming that they knew how to correctly interpret its story, but each of the plot theories I read from these people were so vastly different from one another that I could only conclude nobody had any real idea what the ending meant.

Again, I'm not giving Virginia the thumbs down due to its lack of gameplay. I understand that some games focus solely on telling a captivating story, and for that reason I place a greater amount of emphasis on the story when reviewing those kinds of games. With that said, the story in this one needs to have a clearer direction for me to give it a favorable review.

I'm not hating on Virginia because it's a "walking simulator" - in fact, I tend to enjoy these sorts of games provided they're done properly - but this one just didn't do it for me. There are certainly parts of this game that are very well done; the art direction is fitting and the soundtrack is nothing short of beautiful. One of the main goals the developers had in mind when creating this game was to tell a story without any spoken dialogue, and there are certain points in the plot where this goal is accomplished well. For example, you are able to infer that your partner for your newly assigned case isn't the most popular person in the FBI based on the fact that you have to walk down endless corridors and stairs to reach her office in the basement. Unfortunately, the developers made some unacceptable design choices at other points in the story, and it is because of these choices that I can't recommend this game. Occasionally, Virginia relies on in-game text to present certain plot elements to the player. However, for reasons beyond my understanding, the developers thought it would be a good idea to yank the text away from the player after only several seconds (which is not nearly enough time to read everything). Because of this, it is entirely possible to miss significant parts of the story from as early as the beginning of the game. Even then, it is at least somewhat possible to understand what's happening throughout most of the story... until you reach the ending sequence. Now, I understand the idea of making just a few plot points left open to the viewer's interpretation. This can work very well if done properly, but Virginia leaves just about every part of its ending open to interpretation, to the point where I didn't have a clue as to what was going on when I played through it. After finishing the game, I searched online to see if I could make any sense of its confusing story. There were plenty of people who defended Virginia, claiming that they knew how to correctly interpret its story, but each of the plot theories I read from these people were so vastly different from one another that I could only conclude nobody had any real idea what the ending meant. Again, I'm not giving Virginia the thumbs down due to its lack of gameplay. I understand that some games focus solely on telling a captivating story, and for that reason I place a greater amount of emphasis on the story when reviewing those kinds of games. With that said, the story in this one needs to have a clearer direction for me to give it a favorable review.