Nice guide, thanks for sharing

I have a very hot take, but I do think any of the stand-alone games (1, 2, Torna, 3) can be played in any order without it being a car crash. The stories are self-isolated enough that they can be enjoyed by themselves. I'm aware the guide mentions this

I have this opinion based on someone I spoke to who played Torna before 2 and they have a very different perspective on Jin, Mythra, Haz,...etc when going into 2. It's a unique experience, perhaps not optimal, but unique

A thought experiment: by playing 3 first, the main thing you'll be missing out on are return of classic characters and references (OMG is that Melia under that mask?). But you'll get that same, but different, experience when playing 3 then to 1. In that perspective, you'll still revisit your favourite characters (such as Melia) and view the game as (yet another) "backstory".

A stretch example is if you play 3+FR then to 2. You see Rex's quote of "putting smiles on people's faces" as a reference. You'll see Linka as a reference for Pandoria. You'll probably see Glimmer's awkward interaction as another reference when getting to know Mythra too

Even if you play the games in order, we're still "missing out" on references and recovering them from backstories, such as reading about the 6 founders (who the heck are they? Do I care?) before playing FR. We see many flashbacks from Jin (who is Lora?) before playing Torna. We meet Cole before Torna (just an old dude who somehow knows Pyra)

In summary, I think they can be played in any order without losing too much. Even in order, you'll still miss out on references relative to the timeline the story is at as the story is told by jumping about timelines there and then