Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons

Don't read this if you haven't played it yet, I don't think I want to try and describe this without spoilers.  It will punch you hard in the feels, and is not a huge time commitment (only about 4 hours total).   Totally worth it.

The story begins with the younger brother kneeling beside the grave of his mother, remembering how she died drowning and he wasn't able to save her.  Your older brother calls you in to see that your father is extremely ill, and you two must work together to maneuver his cart to the town doctor.  The doctor sends you on a mission to gather medicine from a special tree.

Mechanics in the game are simple, big brother is left thumbstick - little brother is right thumbstick, and both have their own single action button.  You have to overcome obstacles together, Big boosting Little so he can lower a rope and they both progress - or Big swimming with Little on his back because he's terrified of water now.

None of the puzzles are overly complex, and there is a lot of flavor along the way in the form of simple interactions on your journey.  If there are animals to interact with, Little has a knack for it - if there are levels to pull, Big has the strength for it.  The art and set design are crazy awesome, at one point you pass through a giants battleground and have to maneuver you way through these giant fallen bodies.

When you finally make it to the base of the special tree - Big gets stabbed by some sort of were-spider in it's death throes, so Little runs for the elixir.  By the time he returns - Big is dead, and Little is now forced to bury his brother.  Again, this was so artfully done, you feel the pain and loss as they pan 3 times around, on the second revolution you see Big standing there and they embrace (and you hope for a fleeting moment), but the third pan you see he is still in the ground and he was merely saying a final farewell.  Thankfully a bird that the brothers had set free on their journey arrives and conveniently takes Little back to the home island.

Here's where it hit me hardest.  Little sees the ghost of his mother next to a river he cannot cross - perhaps to console him, perhaps to remind him of his fear.  ... I tried looking for an alternate path, or something to climb or float on, but after exhausting everything else, I clicked the action button for Big and heard his encouraging voice from beyond.  Now Little is able to channel his brother to get past obstacles he felt were too much for him before, he still can't pull the lever on his own - but the combination of the two when he hears his brother, he finds the strength.