Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is a fighting game with role-playing games Persona 4 and Persona 3. Moreover, this is the continuation of the first game Persona 4 Arena. Given this heritage, you should know if you can just take and play Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and understand the story.
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is Direct continuation of the history of Persona 4 Arena , the action of the game occurs after the end of the arena. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is absolutely confusing if you at least not read Synopsis Persona 4 Arena and have fleeting knowledge Persona 4 and Persona 3 . In general, if you have not played the arena, you can confuse references to events and characters that took place in this game.
However, the game becomes more accessible if you have basic knowledge about Persona 4 and Persona 3. Events in these games are often repeated by characters. Functional knowledge of characters and history of these games is definitely preferable before playing Ultimax.
If you want to know the story to Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and do not think you have time to play two full role-playing and fighting game, then you can watch anime adaptation for each game. Persona 4 has a pair of animation adaptations, and in Persona 3 – the trilogy of animation films.
However, if you are worried that you will not know the plot, you will get less pleasure from the game. The game itself is an incredibly solid fighting game that resembles Blazblue or other ARC System Works games.
Advanced Guides on Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, see the article What is the release date of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax? in professional guidelines for the game.