There are a few game series I wanna look into but I don't know what order to play them in.
-On one hand, gamers swear up and down that release order is the way to go.
-On the other, I think that if I play them in chronological order I might get a more comprehensive story.
(Yes this is referring to Metal Gear and Devil May Cry)
I don't really play story driven games so I'm not sure but I guess it really depends on how the developers and writers intend the players to play them.
If the chronological order is different than the release order, then I'd look for factors such as the evolution of the gameplay (how easy it is to transition from a game to another) and also how well the stories are written. Sometimes, experience the story in the in-universe order can be confusing as sometimes prequels that were made after the original game are meant for people who already play said original game and not for newcomers.
Also, this is really only matters if the game series is actually story drive. I've seen Sonic fans say you should play their games in chronological order but I found it really stupid, people won't be lost if they play Sonic 2 before CD guys. Same thing goes for something like Mega Man, it'd be pretty stupid, you really don't have to play every classic games before X1.
TL;DR:
It depends on how the writers intended the player to experience their games and story order is only relevant for games that have a large focus on story.
If you play in chronological order of the story's timeline, that will make it even more confusing.
Even though there are games that take place earlier in the story timeline, that does not mean playing them first is how the story was meant to be told.
There's recontextualizing, reveals, and references that will no longer work for you if you play in chronological order.
