I just don't get how they seem to be unplayable or completely impenetrable to so many people. I'd say it's a generational thing but even many people who grew up playing PS1 games act like trying to figure them out in 2024 completely short circuits their brains
Now, would I want to play some hypothetical fast paced 3D action game from the 90s where they used tank controls because they didn't know any better? No, but they work perfectly fine in slower-paced games like Resident Evil-style survival horror or the first five Tomb Raider games (though the camera kind of sucks in those, but it took a long time for 3D games to figure out how to handle that in general)
Maybe I'm just weird for enjoying tank controls. Some survival horror games that came out in the PS2 era like Silent Hill 2 and 3 gave you the option between 2D and 3D (tank controls) movement and I always pick the latter if I get the chance
You turn around very slowly
You can't put space between you and an enemy and turn around at the same time
Everyone who ever played one of those games died because of a combination of those two things
They died very slowly as they rotated impotently on the spot, without enough time to prevent it, but with plenty of time to take in that it was going to happen
Most games from that era had very sparce save points and limited save items
This is the standard control method of 3rd person shooters for about 10 years - this doesn't just happen once
Like anything it becomes a meme - something fun to complain about - but that doesn't mean that many people didn't legitimately resent it
I admit tank controls without a quick turn are incredibly clunky and it took RE until the third game to figure that out