Free vs 39$ who wins? This will not be discussing who copied who and who stole ideas from whatever. This will be purely on a gaming standpoint. I know "Fun" is subjective and these are just my views, so please feel free to voice out your opinions on the comment section below.
Before i begin however, let me start off by highlighting Overwatch's good points, and there are aplenty.
Production values are spot on
The game is beautifully made. From the tiniest details on every map, to the destructible environment, everything looks polished. The characters are all FANTASTIC! They each have their own flare, their own identity, the details of the weapons are amazing! The moving parts, projectile physics the animation are all top notch. It's also optimized and those fluid graphics can be achieved even on the oldest of PCs.
Ranked matches are alive!
Another good point is... well ranked matches aren't dead that's for sure. You can thank Blizzard's hype train for that, there are thousands of subscribers to the game and you won't be having a problem queuing in for ranked matches.
Character skins are one of the best in the industry
They don't just change colors, or alter a minor details, they actually almost change the whole character! A fully clothed poncho cowboy? how about a beach lifeguard topless with a towel hanging on his shoulder?
Maps are interactive
Takes a while for you to master them, but they don't feel claustrophobic. There are many angles for you to attack, with the teleportation devices and other character movement skills, The environment is a game mechanic in itself.
With that said above, all of those i pointed above are the WEAKNESS of Paladins.
Now how about for Overwatch?
#1 Pace is slow yet games are super short
Prepare to fight! and walk... a lot
There's no sprint button in Paladins too but you won't ever feel the need to do so since the map is small and arena like, they also have mounts. For Overwatch it might seem ages before you're put into the fray again thanks to its huge maps. Although both games offer movement skills for most of their Characters, Paladin heroes have shorter cool downs not to mention you can customize your hero to move quicker or shorten the cool downs even more (more on that later)
Die run repeat
With movement speed slower than usual, the pace becomes a drag, depending on the game mode, i'd estimate there to be 4-7 big clashes on a competitive balanced team and that's being generous. Games could go anywhere from 2mins to 15mins again, depending on the game mode. While short games can be a good feature for some, since you don't have to commit too much of your time for a single game, makes jumping into a game much easier as well.. the Queue times however are unforgiving, more on that on my next point..
#2 Queue times are longer
It gets easier when you level up more
Sometimes even dead during the wee hours in the morning, the kids playing the game are probably sleeping. The system matches your current level with the levels of your teammates and enemies which explains the long matchmaking process. The skirmish mode while waiting in queue is a nice touch, but 15 mins in and no official game starting, it gets old pretty fast.
You can however, browse for games in the server browser section, a feature in another FPS, Dirty bomb, that is most welcome. Good luck if the game titles aren't Korean or Chinese though (SEA REGION)
#3 Classes are hardwired to do specific things
A groupfie with the planet's deadliest task force
Tanks tank, supporters heal, offense heroes kill, defense heroes defend. It creates a rock paper scissors scenario and requires teammate coordination even more. Go solo and you'd most likely get steamrolled though the pros would tell you otherwise.
In Paladins, they're divided into support, tanks, flankers and offense. While divided into four however, a support can kill you just a s good as any flank.
Paladins also have the card system in place which allows you to customize your hero before the game starts(Think of League of Legends) You can also purchase upgrades while in game to further customize your play style. In Overwatch, you're stuck to how Blizzard programmed your character to be, sure everyone gets a chance to kill, a rock can blast its way out of paper but you'll seldom see a healer on a play of the game highlight, getting a rampage or even a triple kill, In paladins that can happen.
Paladin's card system adds more flexibility, pictured above is a support hero's loadout, he could very well kill anyone
#4 Paladins churns out newer heroes faster
Blizzard's characters have more flare, looks better and have better details
Paladins started out with way fewer heroes when the game came out(it's still in beta btw) , now it updates more, releases faster, Devs are more active, makes Overwatch feel stagnant. If the pace continues, it will have more heroes, more replayability, more tactics at play, and even more customization.
Paladins started out with way fewer heroes than Overwatch, now Paladins has 31 heroes versus Overwatch's 25
#5 Map designs are terrible
Sure they're eye candy but it relies too much on choke points. With the slow pace, the slow character movement speed, choke points are death points in the hands of a good team. It's telling if some maps are banned from competitive play yet you let normal players play on it.
#6 Matchmaking is horse shit
The system will match a level 5 with a level 83 any time of the day. The problem it seems is that it doesn't have a balanced player base at the moment with most players being in the middle tier. While levels don't really matter, experience does and for a team game with specific roles for each, one erring weak link could mean the game which is, again, another flaw.
#7 Healers heal too much, a must in every game
In Paladins your team CAN survive without a healer, which speaks of volumes of the balancing done with everyone. With a healer however, you can persevere more, fight battles longer if you choose to. In Overwatch, it's a necessity. Healers heal insane amounts of HP both from short and long ranges (there's a sniper that can heal, wtf right?) , forces you to target them first (like can the tactics be less obvious?)
It also doesn't help that the Characters never regenerate health, though there are health packs allover the place, the maps are too big, your characters move slow, and time is gold. Specially with the short game matches.
#8 It's not Free
For obvious reasons, not everyone can purchase online, or afford Blizzard's marketing. So the fact that something is free, players somewhat better, is a big punch in the gut. Though Blizzard's player base won't affected in the least.
The potential to overthrow it is definitely there, but with Blizzard's hype train, marketing and it's vast network, it seems rather unlikely in the near future.
Conclusion
If you've played one of steam's top free FPS games in Paladins and Dirty bomb but still haven't bought Overwatch by now and is thinking of purchasing it to try it out, here's my two cents: It's like jumping from DOTA 2 to League of Legends, or more accurately Heroes of the Storm. Character movements are slower, Heroes are hardwired makes team work a necessity, Snowballs/Deathballs are often and games are short.
Who knows, that 39$ might go a long way elsewhere.
Photo links:
Paladin hero line up
https://www.paladins.com/paladins-early-access-breaks-into-steams-top-games/
Overwatch hero line up
http://2p.com/10215506_1/Overwatch-Official-Wallpapers-Choose-Your-Hero-and-Fight-for-the-Future-by-JaminNoob.htm
Overwatch heroes
https://overwatch.gamepedia.com/Heroes
Paladin cards load out
https://www.futuregamereleases.com/paladins-pip-build-guide-and-which-cards-to-choose/
Queue time
https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/50msl0/one_battlenet_user_has_a_world_record_queue_time/
Overwatch clash
https://forums.yogstation.net/index.php?threads/official-overwatch-thread.10493/
Overwatch running
https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20119626