Story:
The backstory is available online. The only thing you really need to know is that the 3 races (Accretion, Bellato, Cora) are all suppose to be different evolutions of human. If you want a more simple explanation, Accretions are the tough melee that suck with magic, Bellato are space dwarfs/rangers, and Cora are the space elves.
Graphics:
There is not much area for customization in the game. There's only a few hair and face styles to choose from. Most players around the same level wear similar armor. The enemies don't have much of a variety at first but it improves later on assuming you last long enough to get there.
Gameplay:
The game itself begins with you picking one of the 3 races. Each account is bound to one race and you can't make characters of other races on the same account. Each race also has at least 3 classes to choose from. The ones they all share are Warrior, Ranger, and Specialist (hybrid sort of). The 4th class which is only available to Bellato and Cora are essentially mages. The specialist class also has special benefits of their own. For Accretians they can use a special cannon like weapon called a "Launcher", for Bellato they can use the a mini robot known as a MAU, and the Cora can use summons (standard summons are reserved for Summoners, Specialists use mini summons). Whichever race you choose will be completely hostile to the other 2 so make sure you and your friends play as the same race.
Each race starts off in their own area and don't meet in their starter maps. The starter maps go up to roughly level 30 or so. It takes a while to get the basic layout of the game, but once you do, its much easier to figure out. The game has a slow start but improves over time. The only difficulty is in the grind, but there's a reason for that.
In order to actually gain experience, you need to train on enemies stronger than you. Grinding on enemies that are too weak will not provide any experience or stat experience. The problem with this is that sometimes you may not be able to afford the equipment you need to fight stronger enemies. This can become a serious problem at times and higher level equipment is rare. When this happens, you need to hope that you can find an alternate way to make money and farm. High level equipment is only easily dropped by Pit Bosses (kind of like bosses in any MMO) but they are very difficult to fight even with a large party.
Raid dungeons are also available, but even though some say level 30, you should be at least a tier above it before you try.
There are also 2 class ups. The first occurs at level 30 and the second occurs at level 40. RF Online allows for cross classing so you can be a summoner at level 30 and become a standard nuker mage at level 40 if you want and you still get to retain summons. The consequence for doing so however, is that you will lose the special skills that result from you being a "pure" class. However, by cross classing you can alter your stat caps and use armor and equipment that you would not have been able to as a pure class. It is up to the player to decide and both have their advantages.
Once you level up enough, you can participate in the "Chip War". Each of the races occupy a section of the mining area. Whoever destroys another race's chip first is the victor. The victorious race can mine at the core with a better rate. If they can successfully bring it to the bottom of the mines, they receive the protection of the guardian so they can't be PKed easily when mining there. The guardian will attack all of the other races as well. This is the primary focus of the game and players can fight the players of other races wherever they encounter each other.
A rather unique feature of the game is its auto adjusting economy. If there is too much currency in circulation in a race, the price of their items will increase. This can be fixed by either spending money or converting it to gold. Gold also changes in price according to the amount of curency in circulation. This can be a benefit or a loss depending on how it is used. The poor races will have cheaper items available so they can have an easier time trying to catch up.
The main problem with the game is the difference in equipment tier. A single tier of equipment seems to outweigh any benefits from stat grinding. With a level 47 set you can easily defeat someone who has a lvl 45 set unless it is heavily upgraded. There's also a chance of "Intense" items where an item has the stats of an item 1 tier above it. Items can be upgraded through normal refining which increases stats of the item and by adding "Talics" which are basically accessories to the armor. The same applies for a level 50 set compared to the level 47 set. The second difference is the population of each race. The race with the most members have an advantage in the Chip War compared to the others.
Guilds can play a big part of the game. The main way this functions is through contribution. The important part here is that each race acts as a large group. The qualified candidates (top 5 i believe) are able to run for race leader. The race leader holds special benefits and is basically in charge for a period of time. Only those with the highest contribution rating in the race can become the race leader. Guilds are also arranged based on contribution. The problem is the shifting power so its important to have a guild with people you can fully trust.
Overall:
If you enjoy a PvP experience, RF Online might be the game for you. But as stated earlier, this is a heavy grind game and its one of those things you either love or hate. It encourages group activity and competition but at the same time it also fuels intense competition and has even evolved into a flat out race war on the forums at times. Thankfully speech from another face is always fully censored regardless of what they say.
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