Yoan Fanise spent 14 years working at Ubisoft, and during that time -- some of which was spent working on the blockbuster series the company is famous for -- he was also somehow able to release one of the smallest, bravest games we've ever seen from a major publisher.

Owners of Apple-powered devices can now enjoy the first episode of Ubisoft's Valiant Hearts: The Great War for the great price of "free". You might remember Mark was quite taken with the game when it came out last year; you now have chance to check it out, no strings attached.

We've got the first trailer for Valiant Hearts, Ubisoft's fantastic game about World War I, with its own distinct visual style and powerful narration and music. Now, what if we take this visual style, and substitute it for Minecraft? Surprisingly, it works. Kinda.

‘Why aren’t there more video games about World War I?’

I’ve often asked myself that question. It’s a good question. The answer, I think, is buried beneath the weight of a history so physically brutal that we’re loathe to recollect it.

Could Valiant Hearts live up to that trailer? That trailer. Before the game's release I showed 'that trailer' to my wife. I never show trailers to my wife. After it had finished she looked over at me and burst into laughter in sheer disbelief: there was a single tear rolling down my cheek. That was the fifth time I had watched it. Every time. Every single goddamn time.

Valiant Hearts is a wonderful story trapped inside a video game. An epic tale set against a (mostly) realistic take on the First World War, Valiant Hearts tells the story of a number of very nice people caught up in the events of one of humanity's most pointless and bloody struggles.

Valiant Hearts used to be sneaking up on us, but the WW1 game just hit the prime time with a spot during Ubisoft's E3 conference. And doesn't it just look lovely.

It used to be that we'd get loads of war games based on World War II. Despite being an ugly conflict full of large-scale action and human drama, World War I never got as much consideration from video game creators. Valiant Hearts is going there, and it's going to look damned pretty in doing so.

Video: The upcoming WWI saga Valiant Hearts sure looks like it will have a lot of emotions. A reminder to Ubisoft, because I know you're out there reading: Don't you dare hurt the dog. Don't do it. The world beseeches you.