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
I disagree, the horror in a horror game is a function of every system together, and depriving the player of intuitive controls and information through inconvenient camera or inefficient controls is not just valid but extremely effective.
Giving the player perfect controls and agency over their information can very easily lead to them outpacing the horror of the game simply by being able to perfectly handle the enemies, who no matter how freaky they look or scary they sound, will be less scary if they objectively are less of a threat.
Theres also the point of immersion into an actual role, if you have controls that let you do just about anything, your character kind of has to be able to also do just about anything in the world or just stop being a particularly coherent character, this kind of thing was commented on all the way back in Half Life with Gordon Freeman, academia dork, being able to inexplicably outfight anyone and anything thrown at him.
Silent Hill 2 remake is gonna have James Sunderland in the cutscenes and then in gameplay he’s gonna turn into Jim “Silent” Hill, action man.