Can I play Trails of Cold Steel without playing the rest of the series?

Poll of the Day

You can, but you shouldn't.
My friend did Cold Steel -> Sky and is waiting for Crossbell while playing the Japanese version of Reverie right now.
I did Sky -> SC -> CS1 -> CS2 -> 3rd -> CS3 -> CS4 and it was okay but could have been better. I've also been spoiled for some elements of Reverie and Kuro1/2 right now and was spoiled for CS4's ending before CS3 was even released in the west.
Ideally you want to play them in release order and never read wikis.
You're a regular Jack Kerouac
Not removing this until I've left March 2020.