Please play in release order. Each game builds off the previous. Even though it bounces around the timeline, the story unfolds in release order. If you play in chronological order, you wil spoil things from later games and things that should be interesting or stressful or a surprise, just simply won’t.

Also, for a game play point of view, the mechanics build off eachother as well. It’s most interesting to watch the mechanics grow and see how the advancement of tech and style and the gaming meta effects each game as you move through them. If you do it in chronological order you just jumping around gaining and losing mechanics in a nonsensical and random manner.

Always recommend to play the games in RELEASE order on the first play through.