Virginia

Whatever your view on interactive movies as games, I urge you to give Virginia a try. Its developer has been brave in creating such a thought-provoking piece of entertainment that goes against the grain in many ways, and now it’s your turn to be brave and embrace it. You may not quite understand it – chances are you’ll be slack jawed for some time after the credits have rolled – but I’m pretty sure it’ll leave you with a lasting impression. In the current age where the majority of films and games are happy to ask you to think and feel nothing, I think that speaks volumes.

Virginia shows instead of tells, with a raw, understated power and a calculated nuance that make even the smallest, most mundane details brim with narrative and emotional significance. While I never found a way to impact or change significant story events, the tale of family, friendship, career, and identity that Virginia tells (without uttering a single word) was enough of a reward for my limited input. The mysteries that remain by the end especially justified a second and third visit, and even now I can feel the secrets of Kingdom, Virginia and the two women whose lives changed there luring ...

Made with a cinematic flair, Virginia tells a subtly emotional story with image alone. This game is trying to push the envelope when it comes to the limits of walking simulators while creating an eerie atmosphere reminiscent of Twin Peaks or The X-Files.

In 1990s television style, play through a story full of mystery and interpretative aspects. You'll guide Anne Tarver, an FBI special agent who's life events have coincidently lined up with the missing case of a young boy in the town of Kingdom, located in Virginia. Unravel the immersive mystery behind the case as well as the protagonist. Everything you need to know about the game can be found right here!

As a whole Virginia is wonderfully cinematic, and a fantastic story to inhabit as it unfolds.

Virginia invites you to the sleepy town of Kingdom, where a boy has mysteriously disappeared.

Some may dismiss it as just another pretentious walking sim, but this innovative Lynchian drama is one of the best story-based games of the year.

I wanted to enjoy Virginia, but the nonsense ending left me annoyed and puzzled as to its meaning. Even playing a second time, I still am not sure what really happened. Some aspects I understand, such as a scenario in which the player character ascends to her bosses rank and basically becomes him down to both the smoking and tossing a file to the person at your desk. I had someone else play for any insight, but the continual edits and metaphysics left them confused as well. There may be something there for others, but for me it was simply a good mystery gone wrong, and not one I enjoyed upon c...

Virginia is, at its best, a gaming mechanism that provides slightly more immersion than watching a movie — and at its worst, a failed walking simulator with a convoluted ending. Because it is a scripted experience light on interaction and choice, I’m not entirely sure I can recommend it as a game. There may be an inkling of promise in its budding story, but for many I imagine it will be hard to read between the lines and even harder to consider it a worthy experience.

An interesting idea that has flashes of brilliance, but is hampered by baffling and counterintuitive design decisions.

Virginia's an astonishing piece of narrative design, and a game that goes where few others are capable of following.

So, do you want to try a game that is “strange and confounding”? If it was up to me, everyone would play this. Then they would tell me not just what they thought of it, but what a certain item, location or actor signified, because an important part of Virginia may well be what you bring to it. I know many won’t like the idea of traipsing through its scenes or passively watching its unfoldings and, sure, if you think you won’t enjoy any of that, you’re right on the money. But if you’re a little bit curious, or if you enjoyed any of the games with which it shares its DNA, Virginia may be one of ...