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
Its kinda crazy ... playing ROMs of NES games that I vaguely remember from childhood as being insanely difficult/frustrating and then playing them in my 40's and finding that... "Hey, this game is tough but actually playable. Why was this so hard when I was 10?"
I get a kick out of watching random YT videos discussing some notoriously "bad" video game where its pointed out that, "If you play the game by its own rules instead of the rules of another game, its actually pretty solid." As an example... randomly came across at video talking about the Die Hard NES game and it sounds pretty cool. But if you were to play it using the same rules as Commando for the NES you absolutely are going to have a bad time.
It's funny to return to PS1 JRPGs from my childhood that took literal years for me and my siblings to beat with bosses that we got stuck in for months and discover that they're piss easy with your adult gamer brain that actually understands how the stats and mechanics are supposed to work
spoiler
Turning on fast forward in your emulator to speed through grinding also helps
spoiler
Being able to Fast Forward is a freaking godsend as an adult trying to play the old RPGs...