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
Tank controls only make sense in the context of literally controlling a tank or tank like vehicle: something that moves forward with inertia, turns its main body slowly, and has a turret that controls independently. Tank controls on like a person are weird relics of a time before devs knew how to make control schemes, and are basically the controller version of the “use the mouse to move and the keyboard to aim” nonsense of the 90s.
First person controls don’t particularly make more sense on a person, nor does third person over the shoulder, they are all abstractions in service of particular ideas for gameplay and storytelling.
Tank controls and fixed camera have roles and functions that are different from FPS or shoulder camera controls.