I've played through Virginia twice. I really wish I could say that I loved the game, but I don't. It's not all bad, and I don't think I've ever played a game that felt more like a film before. Those jump cuts (especially when timed with music) were fantastic. The story was very mysterious and intriguing to me. I appreciated all the nods to The X-Files, though they may have taken it a little too far. I can also appreciate the art style and the choice of no dialogue.
I do feel that this didn't need to be a game. I've played all sorts of "walking simulators" and never had this opinion. There's way too little exploration and interactivity to warrant this being a game. I think the only optional things you can find/interact with are for achievements. I liked how there was no dialogue, but it made the experience a bit more cryptic than it should have been. I feel part of the problem comes down to character animation. They generally get emotions to come across, but better facial and body animation could have helped communicate a whole lot more. Also, when the game was locked at 30fps, it felt lower. My fps counter was at a steady 30 throughout and it felt kind of horrible to play. I changed the option to 60 fps for my second playthrough and it felt a whole lot better. I also didn't feel I "lost" something by it not being 30 fps.
As for deciphering the game's meaning and story, that's a tough one. It could be any permutation of a fantasy or dream mixed with real events. I want to say that I think I understand it, but I'm probably wrong. I may skip a few things because this would end up being a novel. I believe the events go something like this:
- After Anne graduates and is accepted into the FBI, she visits her father. He has her destroy something, or maybe he just tells her about it and she decides to get rid of it herself. We can assume it was something damaging, most likely to her father, but the truth is we don't know. Maybe it was proof of some kind of cover-up. Maybe it was actually his hidden porn stash. The game doesn't tell us enough unless I missed something. Either way, it looks like Anne regrets doing it and keeps the broken key as a reminder.
- Lucas catches his father having an affair with his friend Barbara and runs away from home.
- Anne is given instructions to investigate Maria. There is no explanation given on the case file. It might be due to Maria's mother, Judith. She was officially removed from the FBI due to unorthodox investigation methods (either strange or illegal). It may be because Judith was onto some kind of conspiracy, so the higher ups had her removed. I think the government is either scared that Maria will uncover this, or it may be that she's just following in her mother's footsteps. Maria does break into the Fairfax home later in the game.
- Anne meets Maria and they begin to investigate Lucas' disappearance. I don't believe the case itself is actually important, but it helps to reinforce the themes of identity and integrity the game has. The pastor is supposed to be a holy man (by all outward appearances), but cheats on his wife with a teenager.
- Leonard rips off Maria's locket when he gets violent and tosses it into the restricted area.
- Anne and Maria become friends. I think they have a lot in common, especially since it seems they both just dealt with a sick family member who died. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be Maria's husband or mother.
- After Maria discovers Anne is investigating her, Anne decides to get Maria's locket back. I believe when Anne falls after climbing the fence that she is knocked unconscious, and everything up through the whole UFO scene is essentially a dream. The first clue is that Anne sees that red light in the drainage tube she's crawling though. That only tends to happen in the dream sequences. It could be a UFO or experimental technology from the air force base, but I doubt it.
- Anne comes to after falling, but she is still a bit out of it. She enters the open field-like area and hallucinates the UFO scene. She finally completely comes to her senses in time to see Lucas run off into the woods.
- Anne goes back to the diner. Maria shows up and they maybe patch things up a little bit. They leave the diner and see Lucas walking on the side of the road.
What was the game about? I think other people have stated it here. It's really about Anne and her identity. This includes how she presents herself and her integrity. I think she believes that Maria is under scrutiny that is undeserved, and how she responds to Maria's investigation is the real conflict. She already hurt her integrity when she burned whatever that was her father had, but this is the real test. Maria's career, and possibly life are at stake here since it could maybe end with a prison sentence.
I think everyone understands that the bison represents Anne's integrity, and to a smaller degree Maria herself. We see this in the dream sequence when the Assistant Director runs Maria down with the car, mirroring the scene when Maria and Anne almost hit the bison. You have the whole hallucination/dream sequence with the bison sacrifice. The bison is killed after we see the ordeal with Anne burning that box.
I believe things get trickier with the cardinal. Red tends to draw one's attention, and it seems like it might signify "truth". There's always the red light from the closet in Anne's dreams. The lock box that contains the material she burns is red (even though it's blue at the very beginning of the game). The pastor's office has red curtains. The dark rooms use red light.
I think that the cardinal is different though. I think it's actually more of a red herring. I believe it represents Lucas Fairfax. He's even wearing red when you see him on the side of the road at the end of the game. In the dream sequence after the bird is killed, Anne finds the cardinal on an autopsy table. It comes to life and flies out the window. I think this represents Anne's belief that Lucas is alive and has run away from home. The other times you see the cardinal in dream sequences, it disappears when Anne picks it up, like when she finds it in the furnace. It's kind of like Anne's subconscious saying 'No, this isn't what you should be focused on'. Instead, Anne should be focused on her internal conflict and her investigation into Maria. Lucas' case is more of an excuse for Anne to get close to Maria.
EDIT:
This is something like 3 days since I made this post and I've still been thinking about the game. I almost made another post, but I don't think what I'm going to say here is worth the bump. I think I misinterpreted something. Maybe this didn't come across in my post, but I never quite grasped the whole integrity thing. I kind of got it, but I never really pulled anything from the story. No lesson or some kind of insight into human nature. I always wondered why Anne would feel some sort of guilt for burning those documents, or whatever they were her father had. I thought that maybe the idea was that Anne compromised herself once before, but had to learn to keep herself in check or something. This is obviously wrong.
I now understand that the game is delving into the idea that there's the right thing to do, and then there's the "right" thing to do. People have to follow their own moral code. This could mean either going against authority to stand up for some perceived injustice, and sometimes it could mean bending or breaking the rules to protect people we care about. Anne wore a mask that was this upstanding, by the book FBI agent when in reality the reveal with her father was meant to show this was false. It doesn't mean she's a bad person, but I would probably do the same thing for one of my family members. I think everyone has killed the buffalo at some point. I'm not saying everyone should just ignore laws or rules. Sometimes people can make the worst choice by doing this. I believe Virginia is trying to bring this to the surface with a bit of moral ambiguity. If my general interpretation is correct, we don't really see what Anne's real decision is and if she goes through with the investigation.
