Feelings on Sadako as a Main

TDLR: Sadako is less fun to play. Chase playstyle has been nerfed because Reiko's watch was nerfed, new TV and tape mechanics make it so Sadako can projects less to areas of interest and apply less condemn, meaning the only way to take advantage of a survivor holding a tape is to basically tunnel them. Her addon pass has also left things to be desired with little change to her addon viability and variety. Furthermore, condemn is as much of an issue as before, oppressive with the right build and near negligible otherwise.

So, some background, I loved playing Sadako before her rework, she was simple, fun, and she felt rewarding to play. I planned on getting her to p100 after I p100'd David. Of course she wasn't the strongest killer by any means, but she was fun to play. This difficulty is part of what made her fun to me. And whether a combination of the meta or her reworked power, I just haven't been having as much fun as I used to on her.

First, the nerf to reiko's watch makes playing chase Sadako a lot harder. I know the change only effectively reduced post-manifestation invis by a fraction of a second, but I can feel it hard. It was actually a huge nerf. I used to be able to mindgame even shack with it. And now, virtually every loop with the exception of filler loops are harder to mindgame and get hits at. It's almost not even worth running anymore. It kinda sucks when an addon that encourages chasing, the part of the gameplay everyone actually likes, is nerfed and thus incentivizes less engaging playstyles.

Second, in a similar vein, her add on pass left things to be desired. Her addons prior to the rework were average, Sadako only having a select number of them be viable, and some having niche synergy with certain perks, but that is typical. The only things changed were things nerfed, and things that had to be changed because they no longer fit her current power mechanics. There was a buff to distorted photo to reveal aura, but after some playtesting, its value is still few and far between. Tape editing deck enables that pseudo-tunneling right at the beginning, telephone is unchanged and a boring if somewhat effective addon, and VCR only really has practical use with DMS. Mother's comb again enables pseudo tunneling for the condemn kill. Bloody fingernail remains unchanged, though a decent effect regardless. Rickety pinwheel, plus sea soaked cloth as they both inflict a status if within a power TV, are nerfed thanks to survivors taking tapes more often. Ring drawing's nerf I let slide, it was needed. Clump of hair and Yoichi's fishing net will come into play very rarely. [Though, i like the idea of Yoichi's fishing net, condemn inflicting a status once a threshold is reached, the execution just fell short. 4 stacks is a bit hard to reach with how easy it is to keep condemn low, all for the weakest negative status in the game.] Well stone and cabin sign reduce TV cooldowns, which is fine, neither here nor there but paling in comparison to other addons. Mother's mirror's effect is more of a meme addon than videotape copy. Any player who has put in a minimal amount of time into Sadako will find it useless. Old newspaper has thankfully went unnerfed. Iri video tape is still very good, and remote control was nerfed, to the point where it is never really considered for any build like it was before. So, the only really viable add ons are iri tape, (nerfed and debatably is no longer viable) reiko's watch, old newspaper, (nerfed but rightfully so) ring drawing, bloody fingernail, and the one new addition to viable sadako addons: mother's comb. So effectively, there was one fair nerf, one questionable nerf, and one arguably unhealthy addition to the roster of viable addons.

Third, TVs. Pre-rework TVs had longer cooldown across the board, meaning you needed to be smart with projecting. Survivors could shut down TVs, but the cooldown was significantly lower than TV projection cooldown. Survivors could deny you a pat of your power, but the penalty wasn't as great as using it. There was strategy to taking tapes. You could guarantee denying a projection during a crucial time, but know that the TV would be online sooner, or let her project, turn off the TV longer, and have a team mate or yourself return to the TV knowing it will be off for longer. There was nuance to it. Now, a survivor can just mindlessly take a tape from anywhere and return it anywhere to deny two TVs of their choosing while also denying projection to those TVs longer. Current projection TV cooldown with reworked condemn just incentives projecting mindlessly, which is hardly fun or skillful even though it is strong. There's no reason for the whole team to just take tapes and either hold them or turn off other TVs. And the only way you can capitalize off that is if you basically tunnel someone, which :/ She's easier and more clear-cut to counter, which just makes her weaker than before too. And with survivors doing TVs more, you have a vital part of your power a lot less, and the slowdown from it isn't even anything noticeable because tapes can be dropped off at any TV, even one that's like 16 meters away, that's only 4-8 slowdown, if at all. It's nothing compared to wesker or nemesis who require survivors to go out of their way for vaccines, or pig who now has consistent slowdown with her traps. 3 genning is more incentivized with projection being nerfed due to new tape mechanics. She won't have the map pressure to not have to resort to one if she can't use her projection to where she wants if survivors take tapes, which they will. The cooldown on projection only adds onto this woe. 10 seconds is actually not that bad, I'll give it that, but it is a restriction none the less.

Lastly condemn. Condemn is tricky, i'll concede that. An instant kill is something you have to tread carefully with. Pre-rework, it was on the weaker side, relying on certain addons and a certain, unfun playstyle to even get it. At first upon the new changes, it seemed to strong. And now that people have adjusted, it is too weak. New Tape mechanics are simply too forgiving. The main draw of new Sadako was that condemn should be occurring more frequently. And now that survivors had adjusted, that isn't the case anymore, unless you focus a survivor, which isn't all too different than pre-rework Sadako with a condemn build. So, if anything, condemn also feels both stronger and weaker than before. Though, this is also in part to things like chemical trap, made for this, and hope's uptick in usage to pair with it, and buckle up that make it more difficult to down a condemned survivor despite Sadako's ability to ignore body blocking.

So overall, Sadako's rework has disappointed me, just as I thought it would when I first read the ptb patch notes for it. She's stronger than before, and weaker as well. (Though mostly weaker unlike the killers who will be mentioned next.) It aligns with newer killer powers, knight has his oppressive guards, but if they're not available for whatever reason, he's just a standard m1 killer. Singularity has his powerful biopods and slipstream, but is just your standard m1 killer if an emp is used. Xenomorph has an oppressive tail attack, a smaller TR and an unusual and low movement stance, but once knocked out of runner mode with a turret, is just an m1 killer. Sadako, like them, feels like she either has a power or no power at all. Invisibility is nerfed with reiko's watch, and is hardly enough to be a competent part of a power without it. Sadako can project more often than before, but it feels like she's actually projecting less thanks to new Tape mechanics. With indirectly weaker invis and less access to projecting to exactly where she wants, Sadako is still mostly just your standard m1 killer, just a bit harder to spot and a smaller TR.

I know Sadako was hardly what any one would consider a popular killer, so most probably don't care about how it feels to play her now compared to then. Which is fair. Not every killer is gonna have a sizable playerbase. So, I know I'm part of a small group of people that cares about this. So, if you are someone that cares and sees this, what do you think? Has Sadako's rework satisfied you? I'd like to hear how it has or hasn't. And if it hasn't, maybe we all can work together to change Sadako into something more fun.