Suikoden Series Question

Do the stories carry on one after another , or do they have seperate stories like Final Fantasy?
For example , if i start playing the series with 5 on the PS2 , or the new one on DS , will i be okay , or not have a clue whats going on?
Thanks :DSuikoden Series Question
no the stories dont connect really. there is some mention of characters or events from different games in each title sometimes and a couple of characters make their way into each game, but in essence each game is an entirely new story. sort of like how final fantasy works.Suikoden Series Question
They have separate stories, so you should be fine playing whichever you want first.Suikoden 2 is closely related to the first Suikoden though, it's not really a sequel but it does have some main characters coming back from the first series.