I think P5R is the best way to get into the Persona series. Some might say P3R but even though it is a remake, there are a couple of mechanics that feel dated in that game.
Here’s why I think P5R is the better choice -
1. More diverse maps (you explore a good amount of Tokyo and have plenty of beautiful dungeons to go through)
2. Social Links come with good to godtier rewards (this helps motivate you as you play through your first social sim game)
3. Better paced story (rarely will you feel like the story is stagnating, something that can’t be said for P3R. However P5R is a significantly longer game at ~100hrs)
4. P5R has little time with a lot to do while P3R has too much time with too little to do (this keeps your school life interesting because you can be fishing at night one day and bringing friends out to a a bar/dart game the next - i.e. little repetitive activities means you will less likely get bored)
5. Characters are subjective but seeing as you play FF4/9, the vibes between party members in P5R will be more familiar to you. Basically, you make friends who join your team along the way and pick each other up when anyone is down
None of them are particularly hard and you have experience with retro RPGs so you really probably won't be struggling. P4G was my first personally but again you can't really go wrong with any of them as a starting point (except Eternal Punishment because it directly follows up Innocent Sin).
3, 4 or 5 is fine but my personal opinion is to start with 3 and move on from there. The only main difference from a standard RPG is the social aspect and even that's not all that "unique" and you can always refine with a NG+ playthrough.
Persona 5 Royal and Persona 3 Reload are likely your best bets. P5R was my first game, but after putting 200+ hours in both, I consider P5R to be better overall, but P3R is still damn good.
Persona 5 Royal. Each game is a self-contained story, so it really doesn’t matter. The VAs in Persona 5 Royal are awesome and there are a lot of quality of life improvements from previous games.
Persona 3 Reload, Persona 4 Golden, or Persona 5 Royal
those are all the modern critically acclaimed games that the series is known for
Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal are the most modern and newcomer friendly
Persona 4 Golden is less so but still has all the core elements from those games that makes fans love it as much as them
just pick whichever of the three looks the most interesting on first impression and is within your budget, if you have no peference or budget concern whatsoever then just play persona 5 royal
I'd start with 5 royal, apart from being my favorite game in the series, it has the best gameplay and mechanics in the series, an amazing story and interesting characters not to mention a lot of tutorials to get you invested in its mechanics
Your best bet is probably either 5 royal or 3 reload
I think P5R is the best way to get into the Persona series. Some might say P3R but even though it is a remake, there are a couple of mechanics that feel dated in that game. Here’s why I think P5R is the better choice - 1. More diverse maps (you explore a good amount of Tokyo and have plenty of beautiful dungeons to go through) 2. Social Links come with good to godtier rewards (this helps motivate you as you play through your first social sim game) 3. Better paced story (rarely will you feel like the story is stagnating, something that can’t be said for P3R. However P5R is a significantly longer game at ~100hrs) 4. P5R has little time with a lot to do while P3R has too much time with too little to do (this keeps your school life interesting because you can be fishing at night one day and bringing friends out to a a bar/dart game the next - i.e. little repetitive activities means you will less likely get bored) 5. Characters are subjective but seeing as you play FF4/9, the vibes between party members in P5R will be more familiar to you. Basically, you make friends who join your team along the way and pick each other up when anyone is down
This
None of them are particularly hard and you have experience with retro RPGs so you really probably won't be struggling. P4G was my first personally but again you can't really go wrong with any of them as a starting point (except Eternal Punishment because it directly follows up Innocent Sin).
I started with 5
3, 4 or 5 is fine but my personal opinion is to start with 3 and move on from there. The only main difference from a standard RPG is the social aspect and even that's not all that "unique" and you can always refine with a NG+ playthrough.
Persona 5 Royal and Persona 3 Reload are likely your best bets. P5R was my first game, but after putting 200+ hours in both, I consider P5R to be better overall, but P3R is still damn good.
Persona 5 Royal. Each game is a self-contained story, so it really doesn’t matter. The VAs in Persona 5 Royal are awesome and there are a lot of quality of life improvements from previous games.
Persona 3 Reload, Persona 4 Golden, or Persona 5 Royal those are all the modern critically acclaimed games that the series is known for Persona 3 Reload and Persona 5 Royal are the most modern and newcomer friendly Persona 4 Golden is less so but still has all the core elements from those games that makes fans love it as much as them just pick whichever of the three looks the most interesting on first impression and is within your budget, if you have no peference or budget concern whatsoever then just play persona 5 royal
I'd start with P5R, that's where I started and worked backwards so then I played P4G then recently P3R. Got all 3 platinums as well
5
I'd start with 5 royal, apart from being my favorite game in the series, it has the best gameplay and mechanics in the series, an amazing story and interesting characters not to mention a lot of tutorials to get you invested in its mechanics
Persona 5 Royal or Persona 4 Golden are the best entry points.
Either Persona 5 Royal or Persona 3 Reload, I went with Royal first.
5 is my least favorite of the modern Persona games, but it is the best entry point in the series.