The game is by no way connected to previous games except for by lore, your player is a new character whom you shape and direct as you will ( a knight in shining armor or a blood sucking monster), the story is unique and you really dont need to play previous games to enjoy it, however just read the elder scroll lore from sites like wikia, its relly interesting and helps create a backdrop, for example the dragons in skyrim just dont appear outta nowhere, they have a long history and background.