Should i buy an expansion?

[?]

If i never played the base game? Will i miss something important in it? Or the expansion is completely "standalone" meaning it does not alter the main game experience in any significant way?

[Zero McDol]

Sure, why not.

The expansion is a side story and takes place during the main game, plus it merely adds a ending to the list of possible endings.

[Viphyte]

yes its good. its a different area but on the same map. its a very cool place.

[Mork]

From what i can tell, you have a few hours of gameplay before the DLC add significant things in the base game.

[Tokenn]

The Phantom Liberty expansion is not a stand-alone in any way. It branches off the main game and becomes part of it after you're well into the base game. It makes no sense to 'just buy the expansion'. You will get full value buying the whole package, believe me.

[Nar!]

If you really like the base game, then you'll definitely want the expansion. It fuses itself to the main game's quest line and expands it (hence expansion). It does have a great side story but it is actually relevant to the base game's main storyline.

Makes it feel much more robust and has a ton more details in it's lore. Dogtown is also quite awesome. As far as altering goes, maybe with some combat wares available through the DLC. :)

[bearishplane17]

I mean, the DLC does include new missions, vehicles, weapons, skills, lore, so why not? It's more content after all.

[mistahbungle]

Do it now.

[Braiven]

Expansion is bettter than the main story. Way better.

[[=]Josiah]

As others mentioned, the Phantom Liberty expansion is not standalone and takes place concurrently with V's main story. There are some folks on the forum, here, who hate it but I think most players (myself included) absolutely love it.

It adds a new ending which, to answer your question about it "affecting" the main story, can allow you to completely bypass most of Act 2 and Act 3 of the main game depending on when you choose to start PL. It, essentially, can replace V's main story depending, again, on the choices you make.

You can also choose to ignore it.

I think PL's greatest strengths are that it leans heavily into the spy genre (as opposed to crime noir of the main game) -which is a refreshing change of pace- and the writing/scripting is a step above the main game.

[Huntn]

Imho, play though the base game. If you love it, add the DLC and play again! It adds basically another stand alone chapter into the existing narrative, that feels separate from the main story. There is an ending in the DLC that can short change the main story narrative, hence my recommendation to play the vanilla game first and then add the DLC.
Also, you can take your chances on an ending, or research possibilities, and maneuver to the ending you most prefer. 🙂