New characters (except Monokuma) here so you probably CAN, but i really wouldn't reccomend it. V3 basically is or feels like a conclusion to all the other games.

I also would not reccomend starting with Danganronpa 2 either since it has a few reapparences of some charracters. Just start from the first game and then to all the others after..

All Danganronpa games imo is really good so just enjoy from the beginning.

why would you? play em in order

You COULD get by with that, but it won't be the full experience. I'd recommend starting from the beginning, but I started with V3 and everything was fine, so it really is just up to you.

No. Danganronpa v3 is kinda the conclusion to the series (If no new game comes out after this one). The last trial wont hit the same if you just started with this one and some plot lines link to the previous games. Just go in order

I started with this game, so I would say that you do not need the others to enjoy it. I tried to play 1 and 2 after V3, but wasn't very interested/didn't enjoy them as much. It depends on your preference. They make references to the other games, so you may miss out on that, but as long as you have a basic understanding about Danganronpa it should be okay. This one has major differences from the first two, which in my opinion make it much easier to enjoy.

tldr: if you're okay with missing references, then you don't need to play the other games to enjoy this one.

DRV3 contains spoilers to the previous two games, so it's definitely not recommended to start with it. If you really don't want to play DR and SDR, at least watch someone's "let's play" (but keep in mind that you won't have the same immersion).

Thanks guys. I'll play in order.