Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD, is one of the most ambitious 3D mobile RPGs in memory. It also had nary an in-app purchase, something that has become sadly uncommon in this day and age of freemium. After two-and-a-half years, Crescent Moon Games has released the sequel. Meet Aralon: Forge and Flame.

Visuals look very substantially improved from the original, which is probably to be expected given how far mobile graphics have come since early 2013. The game promises a "massive" world to explore, three races and four classes to choose from, real-time shadows, first and third-person views, and dynamic day and night cycles. It looks like Crescent Moon have been busy, indeed.

While games like this tend to be a bit light on story in mobile applications - because they're all about getting you to play over and over to purchase more in-game bullshit - Aralon stands out as a more linear experience that won't ever ask you to buy anything or tell your friends about it or offer to give you a lollipop hammer in exchange for your first-born child.

That said, early reviews of the Android version predictably cite substantial bugginess. The Shield Tablet in particular seems most affected, with non-functional controller support and a complete lack of the promised dynamic shadows throwing a real wet towel on the experience. The screenshots on the Play Store are also probably from an iPhone (they're identical, and the description is also copy/pasted from the App Store), so visuals on your end device may vary substantially.

You can get Aralon: Forge and Flame on the Play Store now for five dollars, and it's yours forever. Doesn't that feel nice?