I recently got Persona 5 about 2 weeks ago and so far this game has been a blast. I heard some good things about this series from one of my favorite Youtubers NicoB and he says constantly and constantly in his KH lets plays that he "hasn't had this much fun with a game since Persona 4". Hearing all that finally gave me the courage to play a Persona game so I bought P5 for 60$ which i traded in some old 3DS games so i could even buy the game. at that moment i bought it i already had my regrets for spending 60$ dollars on a game without much research, but after 10 hours of playing i was immediately hooked and after about 30 hours of playtime so far i have to agree with Nico that this game is awesome. (i've only just beaten the 2ND palace so please don't post any spoilers past the 2ND palace) I know Nico has said something like this himself but i'm gonna say it too: i haven't had this much fun in a game since Super Paper Mario and that's saying something because i LOVED Super Paper Mario. Although even tho this game is AMAZING i'm curious to see if the older Persona titles and side games were any good and if they are worth my time. I heard the older games were good but i'm hearing people say P5 surpasses all of the Persona games and that makes me wonder if i should play P4, P3 or even Persona Q. I'm gonna be playing Persona 5 for now but i'm curious to see if the older titles are any good.

I love the resr of the series but P4 is my hated due to the very slice of life, anime like events. P1, P2IS, P2EP, P3, and P5 are amazing though. The main SMT sereis is even better

People mainly play Persona 3 and 4. If you have a vita i recommend Persona 3 portable (P3p)  as a digital download. They usually put it on flash sales. Persona 4 golden for vita too.

Oh duh! I forgot. Persona Q after you beat 3 and 4. Its on the 3ds

Edited April 30, 20178 yr by EMIYA

People mainly play Persona 3 and 4. If you have a vita i recommend Persona 3 portable (P3p)  as a digital download. They usually put it on flash sales. Persona 4 golden for vita too.

Oh duh! I forgot. Persona Q after you beat 3 and 4. Its on the 3ds

ok shit, i don't have a vita for these games. i have a 3DS for PQ but i guess i need to play P3 and P4 first. i'll find some way to get them tho.

I still say give 1 and the 2 duo a try, there so freaing good, better than 3,4,5 but thats just me an unpopular choice

3 and 4 are both great. I prefer 4 (especially Golden) because the characters are a lot more impactful than 3, but the plot of 3 is probably a bit tighter overall. You can play them both on the PS3 if you have that; 3 will be the FES version, with more stuff to do (but no FeMC or explicit battle tactics) and 4 will just be the vanilla.

I've only played P3 and P4, and I cannot recommend P4 enough. My only warning: P5 is very smooth and streamlined, the further back in the series you go, the more archaic they seem. PERSONALLY, P3 was unbearable control-wise because I played P4 first.

Persona 1 2 and 2-2 have a similar battle style in that you have to do negotiations in order to get more Personas but everyone in the party can have more than one Persona not just the main character.  Persona 3 and 4 are similar style and such but you don't have to ask the enemies to join you which I like that you just get new Personas in a different way.  1 2 and 2-2 don't have Social Links (Confidants in P5) I would recommend playing those games but it could be hard to go back to those games after playing P5.  If you want the best version of P3 and P4 you need a Vita because P3P and P4 Golden are the best versions of those games, and I also think you can get Persona and the only way to play Persona 1 and Persona 2 Innocent Sin is if you have a PSP or a Vita.  But there has been rumors of a remake of possible of the the first Persona game and maybe 2 Innocent Sin and 2 Eternal Punishment (2-2) as well but who knows.  With Persona Q you definitely should beat Persona 3 and 4 before playing that.  Dancing All Night, Arena and Ultimax are games that you don't need to play since they are rhythm game and fighting games respectively. 

I hate to just reiterate what others in this thread have said, but I can recommend the entire SMT franchise if you like the philosophical story elements and combat and dungeon-crawling mechanics of P5, while Persona 3 and on are good if you like the slice of life stuff. I like both, so I have played a lot of the SMT games at this point.

 

I also can't praise the OSTs of 3 and 4 enough. I still listen to them all the time, and I haven't played the games for years.

 

As for versions, I recommend playing both Persona 3 Fes AND P3P on PSP...one gives you the Fes elements and better gameplay IMO, while P3P gives you the female protagonist storylines. Same with P4 and P4 The Golden, except with Golden giving you Marie.

 

I also really like the fighting games P4: Arena and P4: Arena Ultimax, but I don't know how OP feels about fighting games.

All the games are standalone titles, you can stick with just Persona 5 if you want to.

There are rumors that Persona 3 and Persona 4 could be getting remade in the same engine of Persona 5 but it's mostly just speculation at this point.  If that dose happen that would be amazing, since it's going to be a long time until Persona 6 comes out they might as well remake the other ones that would be awesome!

There are rumors that Persona 3 and Persona 4 could be getting remade in the same engine of Persona 5 but it's mostly just speculation at this point.  If that dose happen that would be amazing, since it's going to be a long time until Persona 6 comes out they might as well remake the other ones that would be awesome!

*secretly hoping for Persona 2 remake*

If you want something more akin to Persona 5, give 3 and 4 ago. If you like 5, there is a high chance you might like them. However, you also might not like them quite as much, it'll depend on you. I recommend playing Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden, which are imo the best versions of their respective games. (People say Persona 3 FES on PS2 is better, but I disagree--Persona 3 Portable is more convenient and compact than FES and all you're missing is a grind-y epilogue that you can watch on Youtube.) If you can't get a hold of Persona 3 Portable, FES is alright but you can't control your party members so I'd recommend going into it solely for story than gameplay and probably put the game on easy just to get by. Persona 4 Golden has some perks over Persona 4, but nothing too groundbreaking. Persona 3 FES and Persona 4 can both be bought on PSN to play on PS3.

 

As for older titles, the Persona 2 duo of games are really good too imo, but a little dated and very different. I personally like the tone and characters a lot. Both games have PSP remakes, but only one of them was localized---as for the original versions of PS1, the one which didn't have its PSP remake localized was actually the localized one. So you'd have to play one game on PS1, and the other on PSP.

 

When it comes to Persona 1, it can come off as super dated and sluggish for some people, even the PSP remake. It's probably the most irrelevant and forgotten of the series, so it's no biggie to stress over unless you certainly want to play.

 

Meanwhile there are spin-offs for Persona 3 and Persona 4 that connect both games; Persona 4 Arena, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and Persona Q. The Arena games are on PS3/XBox 360. The games are very different in gameplay, so it's recommended you play 3 and 4 first. 4 also has a spin-off all to itself called Persona 4 Dancing All Night which is on PS Vita. It's.... a dancing game, but personally I love it. 

 

 

*secretly hoping for Persona 2 remake*

 

God I hope so. I'd be nice to see the older games brought back from the dead in Persona 5's engine. Hope they remake both games andkeepjungayatlusplease

Persona 3 is a bit dated at this point but its story is amazing and it introduced many of the mechanics now common in the persona series like social links and time management. I'd recommend Persona 3 FES if you're interested. Its on PSN as a PS2 classic and can be played on a PS3 if im not mistaken. If you like challenges P3 FES Hard Mode is VERY difficult (harder than P5 Merciless) 

I'd highly recommend try the Persona 2 games and Persona 3

 

Persona 4 is great but it depends on your tolerance for the Slice of Life style of storytelling it has and the kind of overly cheerful adventure

 

Though I really highly recommend trying the main Shin Megami Tensei series as Persona is a spin-off of that.

 

If you have a Ps3 you can try SMT3 Nocturne through PS2 Classics and if you have a 3DS I highly recommend checking the SMT 4 duology with SMT 4 and SMT4 Apocalypse