Well, if it makes you feel any better, I don't struggle to maintain internal maps in real life or in games that are intentionally disorienting, so your mileage may vary!
I also have aphantasia, so perhaps that's somehow related? I don't physically create a map in my head, I just have an innate sense of where things should be after familiarizing myself with a particular area.
Perhaps since I don't physically create a map in my head, the disassociation between what is expected and what is actually happening in front of me for games like that doesn't create the same level of cognitive dissonance? Just spitballing here haha.
I am excited for a time when we have easier language for talking about those nuances. Aphantasia may indeed be related! It may be the direct reason, or it may be one small piece of a larger puzzle that we’re barely scratching the surface of!
I mean.. In the world of GPS’s and always-available internet, do you really need the ability to accurately map spaces in your head?
Personally, if I could go back and change it I’d still play them knowing what I know now. I would probably also keep a better eye on my brain and try to teach it to play games and trust euclidean space, but besides getting lost “in the old days” it hasn’t hurt me that bad
So fascinating to see such opposite recommendations for these games! I'm not sure whether to try them, or run away haha.