So I have seen people talk about the Persona series for years but I have just never really cared enough to try it out.  After Atlus released the new trailer for Persona 5 the internet blew up with people talking about it, and based on a reaction like that I think it may be time for me to give the series a shot.

 

I want to know what game you think I should start with? It is to my understanding that these games are not connected (I may be wrong about that).

 

Or should I start with a title in the Shin Megami Tensei series first? As that is to my understanding that it is what Persona originated from.

 

Your opinions and recommendations are welcome and I thank you in advance for them.

Edited September 18, 201510 yr by Ven983

Go to P3 and P4, they are the easiest to get into.

If you have a PS Vita/PS TV get Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden

So I have seen people talk about the Persona series for years but I have just never really cared enough to try it out.  After Atlus released the new trailer for Persona 5 the internet blew up with people talking about it, and based on a reaction like that I think it may be time for me to give the series a shot.

 

I want to know what game you think I should start with? It is to my understanding that these games are not connected (I may be wrong about that).

 

Or should I start with a title in the Shin Megami Tensei series first? As that is to my understanding that it is what Persona originated from.

 

Your opinions and recommendations are welcome and I thank you in advance for them.

Start with Persona 4 Golden if you have a PsVita(in case you don't have it then get the Ps2 version from the PS3's PS Store) as it's the most accessible entry in the series in terms of difficulty

 

Then try to play either Persona 3 FES or Persona 3 Portable whichever version of P3 you like though remember that it's a little bit harder than Persona 4

Start with P3 Fes or if you have PSP ,then Persona 3 portable. After that , play P4 or P4G if you have vita . You can choose to play arena or persona q if you want.

Though beware that the Persona series has a heavy focus on dialogue and character developmentworld building which means a lot of cutscenes and choices to be made

 

Don't go into the series expecting something similar to Final Fantasy otherwise you might not get into it

 

Also the Persona series are known for their longivity heck Persona 4 on it's own is just as long as Xenoblade Chronicles.........A.K.A 80+ hours

 

The average length for a Persona game is between 50 hours to 80 hours so be patient while playing

 

Start with an open mind that this is gonna be something completely different from what Square Enix usually produce

Edited September 18, 201510 yr by Smash Mega Koopa

definitely play all of them if you get the chance. I say start out with Persona 3. If you can, go for the Portable version because you have the ability to control party members in combat which takes a great deal of frustration out of the game. While it's similar to a visual novel compared to the PS2 version I still found it to be entertaining and hard to put down. Then I'd say move on to Persona 4 (normal or Golden version, doesn't matter really although I've heard P4G is much easier than the original P4 which is probably true, going off of my experience with P4G).

You should play the first 2 games of the series though (technically first 3 since P2 is a dualogy of games) because they're still enjoyable for the most part. I was worried that playing P3 and P4 first would make getting into P1 and P2 much more difficult but that didn't seem to be the case. 

P1 and P2 are certainly a bit more challenging and old school than the recent entries into the series but they're still worth a playthrough.