Should I play the basic version without Maxima?

[JKC]

Is there anything unique that I'd miss not playing the base version?

[ShinkuTear]

Unless you like the idea of never having a treasure detector, or like the idea of a smaller party, Maxima doesn't remove anything, it just adds more stuff.

[Olathoë]

I don't have Maxima edition, but I considered buying it for additional intervention quests. Then I researched and found out that it added 3 more quest to 40-something original. The proportion of new content vs. original seemed to be even less in other areas of the game. Limited party space is an annoyance, but it encourages to swap mirages.

[Pikota]

This is what Maxima adds. Game is at 12$ and DLC is at 8$ on Humblebundle(3 days remaining to the end of the discount), i think is worth.



- Active party can have 12 Mirages instead of 10.

- After clearing the game, the Treasure Tracker is obtained, making treasure chests easier to find.

- Several battle-related and Key Items were added.

- The player can now carry up to 120 Mirajewels instead of 99.

- The player can now carry up to 999 Arma Gems instead of 99.

- New Game+ was added, unlocked at the title screen menu after clearing the game once.

- New "Nightmare" difficulty which makes enemies and bosses much stronger, but also rewards the player with much more EXP, Gil and items. Available only in a New Game+ file, and can be switched on and off at any point in the Config menu. Battles in the Coliseum do not go up to this difficulty, however.

- Option to listen to "Innocent³" from World of Final Fantasy: Meli-Melo in the Theater Mode.

- Difficulty reduction of the Sandstalker minigame.

- Catching Fritt, Bablizz, and Zapt was made easier.

- Hauyn can join the party after clearing the game and completing every intervention quest. She can change between Jiant and Lilikin forms, but does not participate in battles.

- Enna Kros was added as a superboss battle after the player clears the game.

- An EX dungeon centered around the original Final Fantasy, the Hidden Dungeon, was added. It includes rooms with random battle conditions, and boss battles with the Four Fiends and Garland.

- The Immortal Dark Dragon, an Exnine Knight enemy that appears at the beginning of World of Final Fantasy: Meli-Melo manga, appears as a superboss. The option to fight him becomes available after clearing the game.

- Option to fight a more difficult Exnine Bahumut, after the player defeats Enna Kros, The Immortal Dark Dragon, and Garland.

- The Coliseum now has "Consecutive" battles where the player must clear one battle after another. These battles are unlocked after finishing the game.

- The player can now take on time attack versions of battles already cleared at the Coliseum. The time attack challenges require the player to finish a battle within a time goal, while the player's stacks' levels are capped to certain levels, and are rewarded with items for doing so, in addition to those rewarded from the normal version. The time attack challenges can be redone limitless times.

- Three new fully-voiced Champion intervention quests.

- New secret ending after defeating Exnine Bahumut a second time.

- Avatar Change: by obtaining special Mirajewels, Champion Jewels, the player can transform into legendary Final Fantasy characters in battle; each character has their own battle background music, as well as an active and passive skill. Fighting as a Champion has a trade-off: Champions themselves and Mega Mirages cannot be summoned.

- A minigame where the player can fish with Noctis has been added, with a possibility to reel in even Leviathan.

- Hauyn's Archives: characters that first appeared in World of Final Fantasy have "World of Final Fantasy (Apocrypha)" written in their "First World of Origin" field in Who's Who; these can be read as WOFF Apocrypha, which are scattered throughout the game world and must be gathered. There are twelve to obtain.

- New Mirages and Champions in the Who's Who and Mirage Manual; since there is a little more story after clearing the game, additional descriptions have also been added to Lann and Hauyn's entries.


Source: https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/World_of_Final_Fantasy

[Bemsch]

It's on Sale on the Square Enix Store right now! 20€ For Base game + Maxima ;)