I think people forget that many of these games came out before the dual shock

Also even then, the dual shock was entirely an optional peripheral for nearly two whole years until 1999 when a game was made and released to push it, and that game was called Ape Escape, a game that imho would be an entirely completely forgettable collectathon platformer if it wasn't for the fact that there wasn't a standardized twin stick control scheme yet until pretty much Halo:CE came out and entrenched a standardized twin stick control scheme. I know Halo:CE wasn't the first one, but it was the game that firmly entrenched it for twin stick controllers. Which meant that they actually experimented and came up with a unique control scheme that that again imho is likely the only reason it ever became a classic in the PSX library.

And yes, I am of the opinion that Halo:CE was a universal net loss on video games in terms of causing nearly every single game since then all feeling like they need to control the exact same way all the time.

Oh yeah, using the dpad is a must for tank controls. I like tank controls but they feel awful with analog control. I wonder if that's a reason why modern gamers struggle so much with them? The dpad hasn't been the primary movement input since the sixth gen and using it to move might just be alien to some people.