are the persona game seperate storys?

[BooQueefius]

title is it like FF where each game is not a continuation of the last? or will i need to play others firsT?

[Mailia]

They're in the same continuity but they're not continuations of each other. Persona 4 story has no idea that Persona 3 happened before it and Persona 5 story has no idea that Persona 3 and 4 happened before it. However, the cast of Persona 3 and Persona 4 do actually meet up in a spin-off game.

[BooQueefius]

Originally posted by Mailia:

They're in the same continuity but they're not continuations of each other. Persona 4 story has no idea that Persona 3 happened before it and Persona 5 story has no idea that Persona 3 and 4 happened before it. However, the cast of Persona 3 and Persona 4 do actually meet up in a spin-off game.

okay so i can play this as my first persona game?

[Mailia]

Originally posted by BooQueefius:

okay so i can play this as my first persona game?

Yes. Persona 3 was the first Persona game for a lot of people back in the day and arguably Persona 3 Reload makes better sense as your first Persona game than Persona 5 Royal.

The only problem I see with Persona 3 Reload being someone's first Persona game is that if they want to experience Persona 4 afterwards, the only options are games that are way older than Persona 3 Reload and are going to feel a lot more dated.

[Niras]

same universe and games takes place chronologically P3>P4>P5 i think

in P4 you visit school from P3
Irrc there are minor camos in P5
e.g on TV Naoto is mentioned

As to do whether you have to finish ealier titles to understand the entry you're going to play...
No

One of few things sharded between games are Persona label on summoned alter-ego.

[Lady of Terror]

The only time you should play P3, P4 or P5 before another game is the 3DS spin-offs Persona Q (crosses over P3/P4) & Persona Q2 (crosses over P3/P4/P5) however the events of Persona Q & Q2 don't directly impact the other games.

[King of Games]

Persona 1, and 2 are basically one continuous story, while 3,4, and 5 are more self contained

[Someone]

What the others said, you can also start with Persona 4 Golden if you are short on cash and don't mind PS2 graphics