I've seen this happen with 20 and 30 year olds.
Its an entire learned skill that a large segment of the population never learned.
... unfortunately, much like reading and writing, these days.
But yeah, the idea that... you can move your position in 3d, with wasd or a dpad or a stick... and also orient your view angle with a mouse or stick ... at the same time?
This is utterly baffling and disorienting to a lot of people who've never played a first person perspective game before.
Its ... part of why AAA games are more often than not third person, in the last decade.
Its easier to pickup for a noobie, because you have a constant point of reference, you can always see the avatar of the player, camera movements are less sensitive and less drastic because you have a wider FOV.