Metroid Prime is really supposed to be that frustrating?

Calm down, I’ll explain.

I’m new to the franchise, and so far, I’ve completed Zero Mission, Fusion, and Dread (and now, Prime), and I was absolutely amazed by them. You have to think a bit to figure things out, but it’s actually pretty intuitive—the exploration is easily accessible, and everything connects really well. But with Prime, I felt like this aspect was terrible. I ended up playing while looking at YouTube more than at the actual game just to know what to do.

I thought the game was fantastic in terms of gameplay, atmosphere, and soundtrack, but the exploration gave me extreme headaches. So I wanted to ask the fandom—what do you think?

Am I just dumb? Is this part of the game's charm? Do y'all enjoy the challenge?

Because I really want to understand the fandom's perspective.