How To Fix Freddy (In My Opinion)
It's no secret that The Nightmare is kind of an underwhelming killer, with a lot of room for improvement- so let's take a look at what that improvement might look like!
For the purposes of this thought experiment, we're going to be assuming that simply reverting Freddy back to his original incarnation is completely off the table. We're doing this for two reasons: it seems like the kind of change most game companies would want to avoid, and if I'm blunt, it's far more boring than attempting to make his current incarnation more interesting.
So, what differentiates Freddy from other killers, at least in terms of core idea? The idea of a Hindered mechanic in chase isn't new, and it's hardly what defines him- I'd argue it's pretty obviously the Dream World that sets him apart, so that's what we'll be looking at most. To me, what the Dream World is intended to signify is that you're in his world now, and he makes the rules; from the terrain itself becoming hostile to you in his Snares of dripping, grasping hands that claw at your ankles, to the mirage of safety when his Dream Pallets collapse into nothingness beneath your fingers. It's a strong concept, but it doesn't quite bear out in the game, at least in his current state.
The best way to fix this, in my opinion, is twofold. First, make both snares and pallets basekit. I see absolutely no reason he shouldn't get to have both since pallets are already very limited in where they can be placed, and he's limited further by the fact that they'd be sharing an 'ammo' pool to be placed down to begin with. The Dream World should be undesirable to be in not because you're slowed down in doing anything, but because you can't trust your eyes and ears to give you consistent information.
Second, completely overhaul his addons to follow the pattern established by dream pallets. Rather than a suite of addons that have extremely underwhelming effects, what I think he should have is the ability to place more illusory objects- fake generators that spawn in looking partially repaired, fake hex totems that crackle and entice, fake chests, even fake breakable walls for some extra cheeky mindgames. For anything that would be revealed by interacting with it, I'd propose that doing so would only cause the survivor to scream for the lowest tier of the addons, and apply status effects like Oblivious and Incapacitated for a short period for higher rarities. Any extra objects he can place would have to share the same pool of 'ammo' as the snares and pallets, and would likely add to that pool very slightly to help accommodate, so while he'd have three separate things at his disposal on top of his teleport, he'd be limited in how many could be placed down at once, on top of requiring knowledge of where exactly those items could spawn in if they were real.
With those two changes implemented, and probably some changes to the addons left over after the second change, I believe Freddy would be far more interesting to play- perhaps not stronger, but Freddy's strength isn't really the problem, it's that his design and gameplay are underwhelming for both sides. Here, he becomes a Dream Demon who taunts and toys with those who fall into his realm after succumbing to the inevitability of sleep.
What do you all think? Would you be interested in playing as/against a Freddy with this kind of kit?
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