>>955262
>SMT
A dungeon crawl with the best story out of any of the mainline games if you don't count Strange Journey, which is ironic since it's also the title with the least story. You travel around Tokyo before and after an apocalypse with your cool friend, edgy friend, and girlfriend alongside three demons, then just your girlfriend and four demons. You gain and fuse demons by negotiating with them and fusing them after you get them. Play the SNES translation with Orden's revision. It has the worst QoL, but the experience is the best. Watch the GBA-exclusive content on YouTube. If you really like this game, play VX, a Japanese fan extension of the game that drastically increases the content, does some rebalancing, and improves QoL.
>SMT II
A dungeon crawl with QoL improvements over its predecessor. You travel around Tokyo in the future of the first game as test tube baby Jesus while collecting demons. Play the SNES version with the QoL Addendum.
>SMT If...
A dungeon crawl with character-based stories set in an alternate timeline from the first two games. You travel around your school with your chosen friend while collecting demons. Play the SNES version. The PSX version has worse music, and the gameplay improvements it makes are minimal. From this point forward in this timeline, you are assumed to have played as a female protagonist in this game. If you want to know what happens to a male protagonist, read the fan translation of the If... manga and SMT Kahn if you know moon runes.
>Devil Summoner Soul Hackers
A dungeon crawl in the style of the first three items. You travel around a cyberpunk Tokyo as a hacker and his possessed girlfriend while collecting demons. You can only play the 3DS version, which is one of ATLUS's few good re-releases. It has the best story of the dungeon crawl titles. The first Devil Summoner is untranslated.
>Strange Journey
The best mainline title, if you count it as such. Play this if you like the dungeon crawling of the original games but want a more in-depth story. Do not play Redux. It's not an early SMT game, but it's worth mentioning alongside them.
>Persona
A dungeon crawl with more traditional JRPG combat and two different stories set in the same timeline as the above title. You travel around the area surrounding your school with your friends while collecting demons to use as powerups for yourselves. If you don't plan on playing the game for more than its story content, play it twice. The first playthrough should be a Reiji SEBEC run, and the second playthrough should be a SQQ run with all of the characters you ignored in the previous run. Do not be a coward while playing. Play the PSP version with the Undub and Music Restoration patch. If you want a more coherent storyline, read the manga.
>Persona 2 IS/EP
A 2D JRPG with the combat of its predecessor but a different method of binding Personas. It takes place in the same timeline as Persona, and characters from it return for the second half. You travel around Tokyo while fighting Hitler and his sentai underlings then the New World Order. It has the best story of any spinoff title and is very focused on characters. Play the PSP versions of IS and EP. IS should have the Undub and DLC Enabler. Read personattb's translation of Persona: Crime and Punishment if you want Persona 2-adjacent content.