They are the original. Persona is a spin off of SMT. And I guess SMT is a spin off of the original Megami Tensei?
Each one has its own story, although there are some references between them. Some of the end game choices lead to or create the realities that other games exist in.
They tend to have a bit of a different tone compared to persona. But, ultimately, you’re still collecting and fighting with demons/personas/whatever.
hraegsvelmir@ani.social 3 weeks ago
Mainline SMT games are a rather different beast. They don’t have any of the social sim elements of the Persona games, and tend to be old-school first-person dungeon crawlers, with an emphasis on exploration, the acquisition and fusing of demons, and developing a balanced team of demons to face off against the enemies and bosses you encounter in the dungeons. They also frequently feature a good/neutral/evil alignments that offers different endings, including different final bosses, depending on which alignment you wind up with as a result of the choices you make throughout the game. They’re a lot of fun if you’re into those sort of things.