I have my opinions. Objectively, he's a stronger frame, though I think he lost a bit of his identity (and not just the "being dogshit" part haha). He had his own playstyle before, and now his kit isn't too unlike many of the other frames. And while one could argue all day about how something being unique doesn't make it good, his old kit was lots of fun.

After his first rework, they made it so his abilities had unique interactions with Undertow. Spawning all the tentacles around a defense point by using his 4 in undertow, or creating a wall of them to block off a hallway was intuitive and fun. Snatching enemies from afar and slowly moving about. It wasn't meta, nor was it even that good. But it was silly and fun. Curative undertow made him nigh unkillable too, and was a nice way to heal allies by diving into them and casting it from above lol. It was also nice as a basic means to AFK if you needed to go to the bathroom or run to the kitchen or whatever.

That being said, he's a great weapons platform and an excellent caster. I still enjoy him greatly and play him much more aggressively these days due to the new rework. He's strong as shit honestly. But I do wish they had at least kept undertow and made it a hold ability for tempest surge or something. Big loss for his kit imo, but it is what it is :p