What Happened To Paul Phoenix? - Why No One Plays Paul In TEKKEN 8

[@VarsVerum]

Why does everyone think I invented the Why NO ONE Plays video format lol 😂

[@taylorherridge5000]

bruh who

[@delta8959]

Who tf r u tho

[@darkbornelines4587]

That karen haircut destroyed this dude

[@Boogard]

I honestly believe it's more then that. I agree with the haircut deterring new players but I don't believe Paul mains who loved the character dropped him because of the hair. And clearly from these stats lots of people have dropped the character. Also from most newcomers I've talked to his hair before was pretty jarring as well lol

[@Xenoxion]

@@Boogard Nah, it's the Karen haircut.

[@kriscotd76]

His hair ain’t got shit to do with him not being played ..He has a simple neutral game ,and he can’t be flo chart like the other S tier characters.iv mained Paul since T2 and most of my wins come from the lack of experience people have against him because no one played him ..

[@breakr16]

@@Boogardnah. It’s really that simple. I think you are the only one that doesn’t think so. Lol

[@Tarheelheat]

Lol

[@TheSinOficio1]

In fact his lack of flashiness it's what make me play Paul, I feel that he teach you more about the game because of his simplicity.

[@Nomdro]

This is the reason I picked him up, as my 1st tekken I was getting rolled playing Lili, she had way too much for me to try and keep track of, Paul was super straightforward and I'd figure I could learn more using a few tools instead.

[@knox7945]

I like the fact that he's just a dude without the flares and flash. Heres the rest of the Tekken cast doing all these flippy dippy stuff and now here comes Paul doing the honest and basic move that hits hard. Also, his lore back in T1-T3 makes him more awesome.

[@chefvideogame]

There are only 3 things I dislike about TK8 Paul: his new hair, his lackluster Rage Art, and his lack of presence in the story mode. Aside from that, the reason why I stick with Paul is because his moves feel good to use and land.

[@chouyuugoureplays3546]

well he was designed in the ps1 era, where computing power was more limited and realism more emphasized, so yeah i guess this is to be expected. he's an og without major reinvented traits, the same thing smash bros veterans suffer from.

[@flerphead]

Paul is an honest character in a dishonest game.

[@xQc_Enjoyer777]

TMM alt spotted.

[@syahrules]

Shaheen just joined the chat

[@flerphead]

​@@syahrulesI forgot he was a character.

[@crazy911wman]

​@@syahrules shaheen in tekken 8 is a monster. What are you talking about?

[@TimeWarrior14]

He was always honest. Even in T7. One thing that is fun with the character is to beat people's ass Old School style.

[@junlau780]

This vid drops legit after I faced 4 Paul's in a row lmao

[@kriscotd76]

Must be in the lower ranks ! Because in blue ranks and above,Paul’s are like seeing a unicorn

[@junlau780]

​@@kriscotd76yea I agree, it was mostly tenryu and shinryu the ones I fought. Never seen one at blue or above so far

[@lexunamzelaznog3871]

@@kriscotd76 let gonna try be that unicorn them

[@eldijablo]

It’s not just the hair, it’s his entire look. He looks like a hobo. If you’re a new player and you see Lars flying around with lightning everywhere, Jin and Kazuya transforming into demons, Bruce Lee lookalike flipping and kicking, King doing WWE moves etc. why would you go and pick the slow, lame homeless guy? This is coming from someone who always had Paul in his top 3 since Tekken 3

[@raginbull13]

Even when you want to customise him, he just looks like an old dude in costume.

[@TheRealRakim]

He looks like his clothes are too tight for him.

[@JustSendMeLocation]

He always had the hobo look, dirty gi, rides a bike, it’s not that at all it’s literally the HAIR and that’s it

[@OctopusH2O]

Lame homeless guy 😂😂😂😂

[@jkthegreat5687]

@@JustSendMeLocation Nah he looked rebellious in the older games Now he legit looks like a dirty ass crack addict

[@Oolong-Dong]

I love Paul he is my favorite character. I even represented him a little bit in a big local tournament. My man is struggling really really hard. His jab punishment and ws4 are a joke. His gimmick with the guard breaks has very dominant counterplay. Most other characters do guard passing way better than him amd are way more flexible. His damage can be super high but it can be pitiful too. Deathfist against some stances cant hit at all or will not hit clean. For example vs Kumas hunting bear stance. Try that out! His moves are not too reliable. Shoulder at the wall for a low slump unscaled hit will often miss if the axis is a little off. Most shocking is how shredder kicks tend to let you down after even a slight side step. I have in no other installment of the series witnessed shredders first kick hitting and the second missing afterwards. Paul struggles to find a good wallsplat from mids if the opponent is not pressed up against the wall. Paul also struggles to get in and earn some frames in a reliable way. You most likely will need to dash block into your opponents face at some point if they defend well beforehand. His 50/50 is non existing apart from some specific scenarios. F2 is not a viable way to enter heat through a punisher. The special animation means Paul is only +5 afterwards eith some space in between. That a waste of resources right there. ub2 was for some reason neutered to the point of being absolutely useless any capacity. qcf3 had a high execution combo route on ch that was taken away while introducing a clean hit range to qcf3. His unblockable deals way to low damage for what you need to do to make it land. The big man apart from a handful of tools Pauls strikes are super linear. and thats enough bitching for now. TL DR: BUFF PAUL

[@Nori2k2]

Cause hes too honest in a very dishonest game. Hes strong if he guesses right though

[@motherlandsrealiest5069]

Because Paul is the OG of Tekken.

[@cukkucake]

He’s been in every Tekken, not even any of the Mishimas can say that and they’re supposed to be the main characters

[@philgamer9499]

​@@cukkucake That's why harada should make Paul die in the next game

[@fuckthisstupidasshandleshit]

@@philgamer9499L take.

[@derimeri21]

I was completle new to Tekken, Tekken 8 is my first game and I main Paul. Resoning is that my friend said that he is easy to understand, but very hard to play well with. So I took on the challenge, plus he is just a cool dude. I have most of his core moves down now, I still need to work on my fundimentals, low blocks and sidesteps. I'm taking it nice and slow, while sometimes I wish he was more flashy, the old hair makes up for it. Slow but steady progress. So yeah... I really love playing Paul and I'm not dropping him. Great video. You just earned a sub.

[@Boogard]

Let me know what you guys think about the video. I'm trying to improve my video essay format so any critism is very welcome, Cheers.

[@NintendoNoctis-ub8fo]

I like the captions

[@afrocrumble8721]

Nice video but you didn't really answer the question of why no one plays Paul. You came at it from your own point of view and easily dismissed "Paul's Hair" without delving too deeper why people think that Let me tell you that as an artist and veteran of Tekken. Paul's hair IS ICONIC and is a recognizable brand of Tekken. If you put a silhouette of each popular character in Tekken e.g: King, Yoshimitsu, Jin, Kazuya, Nina, Lars, Reina, Lili The outlines of their hair and poses would be instantly recognizable. Wonder why Josie, Gigas, Chloe are out of the game? Very Generic poses and forgettable silhouettes. Leroy and Claudio on the other hand have amazing designs and appeal. This is a little technical but human beings are pattern recognizing animals. The moment something feels... off... we can sense it. Maybe not consciously, but we def internalize it This 100% applies to casuals. When casuals pick up the game. As you say... they have to press "extra buttons" to get the hair back... but does Tekken tell you that? NO Even worse... you have to work for his Red Gi... the costume that's been his default clothes since Tekken 1. People who are returning or are new to the franchise will take one big look at Paul... and go... "LOL this doesn't make sense". AS CRAZY AS IT IS... I understand where they are coming from. Just as Josie who had bone crushing kickboxing moves but weeps and cries like a little girl... there is also a *disconnect* in seeing motorcycle badass karate man with the haircut of a grandma. It's this juxtaposition that "doesn't make sense". Casuals will play Kuma in his karate gi or go for the mexican wrestler with a leopard mask on because at least there is no imbalance in design. Great video though. Keep it up!

[@FFx16459]

@@afrocrumble8721great comment..I agree with the character selection screen. It is casuals that we”re talking about. I’m sure they might not even know about the costume selection. Or care to click each time.

[@davidgabay9398]

It was great! Keep going in that direction

[@TimeWarrior14]

I would like more Paul content :P

[@wesaaron6618]

I think it's a mix of multiple little annoyances with Paul. His kit has a lot of similar looking attacks, which makes it feel even more restrictive. His look lacks intimidation, nobody sees him as dangerous. The base haircut limits hats and headbands to the awful haircut since tekken couldn't be bothered to allow multiple hair types with head items. His customizations are very limited and don't help with his goober persona.

[@mariosmichael5116]

As a Paul main comming from Tekken 7 I agree that the biggest reaason is not the hair. The bigger reason is that Paul moveset doesn't cutting it for Tekken 8. It just not enough in turms of animation and new cool moves also its not flashy enough. When you pick other characters it feels they have supers and spamable stuff and paul feels too stiff and you have to work harder, cause you cannot spam almost anything.

[@KingBongHogger]

They dropped his iconic slimjim hair for the "can I talk to your manager?" cut and isn't a very flashy character in a game full of people with fancy flips, powers or weapons. He's super easy to crush people, especially early on in ranks. You only half to press half the buttons to do the same, if not more, damage than most other characters

[@darklord9581]

Yeah I cough to players in lower rank and notice Paul does alot of damage. He also has a heat combo they used to that kept getting me caught in it but I heard they gonna nerf it in the next patch.

[@drabnail777]

"You only half to press half the buttons to do the same, if not more, damage than most other characters" Hard disagree there

[@gatorrade1680]

I like his new style. It looks cool. He is a good character for (new) players, who want to learn the basics.

[@JustSendMeLocation]

His new style looks horrible

[@jkthegreat5687]

He looks anything BUT cool Your fashion style is in question right now…

[@shotgun2140]

I play paul He may look like a hobo, but the personality is still great! Nothing screams the strongest like hitting hard. No devil gene, no weapons, no secret techniques. All he does is hit hard with a smile on his face

[@rextek3715]

As a person that is completely new not only to tekken but fighting games in general, I'd say that it mostly is his design, not only his hair (although its probably its probably the main reason) but also his clothes. The reason I think that is because the first piece of advice you hear as a new player in picking out a character is "pick someone you think looks cool" or something along those lines, sure the way their gameplay looks and feels (as well as if their kit is good or not) matter but I think that first impresion was vital to me, and I would guess most other players. Finally I looked at him a bit recently and didnt love the customization options he had. I mostly also agree with all the other reasons you stated, but I stand by that being the main reason. I recently finished the story mode and that kinda made me interested in playing him, cause I found him pretty entertaining/cool in what little they show of him (also knowing the context helps, since i watched a story recap) I dont think I'll pick him up any time soon since I'm still struggling to be good with my main, and if/when I pick up another character I'd rather pick up one thats pretty op, just to get a taste of how easy it is.

[@NekMinuteG]

I just think American characters don’t get picked😂

[@VDViktor]

to be fair customization in t8 is a55, period. Regardless of the character. Although i managed to make my mains look quite sick. There are ways to make Paul look cool still. Hotline Miami Biker cosplay on Paul's huge frame rocks

[@jkthegreat5687]

@@NekMinuteGfym Nina getting picked all day

[@Xavier-ns2ic]

@@jkthegreat5687 Nina is Irish and middle of the pack in the pick rates as of the last usage charts

[@darklord9581]

lol I made Paul look like triple H in a suit during his “BEST FOR BUSINESS” era with Kane and the shield ☠️

[@chefvideogame]

If we’re talking about who’s been forgotten, I feel like Asuka has been left behind by the devs. Gets nothing in the main story (has like no lines talking to Jin), gets nothing in her own story (it’s more about Lili) and her new mechanic only changes 3 moves.

[@Boogard]

Will definitely be making a video on her eventually

[@RationalMinded]

Yeah, Paul is outdated. His pokes are dated, his strings are very simplistic in animation and 2-3 hits outside of the 10 string, so learning to defend them requires little work. Paul's attacks are very straight forward, with his unsafe moves actually looking unsafe - he doesn't have trickery or ambiguous animations to confuse anyone either. His damage used to be his "thing" but since Tekken 6 hes been losing that charm, and now in T8 even Ling has high damage so theres really no reason to use him in T8 as a new player unless you're a masochist, or you want to develop your fundamentals. I main Paul and Steve, and it can be rough in T8 lol.

[@deathfistenjoyer]

My biggest complaint with Paul is that every other character has some sort of running, long range, somewhat tracking mid that gives around 5-6 frames of advantage and have a df1 that frame traps out of it. Meanwhile Paul's main +frame mid is only +3 and the fastest safe mid he has is 14 frames, you could consider uf2 as it gives +5 on block but its high and has some of the worst tracking in the game. Also please harada give ub2 tracking again, f4 being the only tracking mid sucks as its super slow. All the top tiers in t8 turn the game into a single player game meanwhile Paul has to work for just about every hit, yeah he gets good reward for landing a hit but demoman still has 0 range and will not clean hit even at the wall sometimes. I've taken Paul to tekken king, switched to playing Azucena and got tekken king in legit half the games just by spamming wr32. Overall, paul is still playing t7 compared to a lot of the roster. Kazuya has the same problem, why would you play Kazuya when Reina, Jin, and Devil Jin are just straight up better at the moment

[@edwuano7]

i may just be getting old, and i never played paul but after this vid i'm considering picking him up. all the flashy stuff (which actually moved me away from devil jin) is a bit overwhelming and i've been looking at the roster for simplicity.

[@MaakuS-53]

Paul wrestled a bear once… no twice… okay a lot of times

[@Boogard]

Strongest in the universe 💪

[@watcherman222]

Canonically the only non-Mishima character to have won against the Mishimas.

[@fuckthisstupidasshandleshit]

@@watcherman222Akuma, Hwoarang, Ogre.

[@supersaiyankrillin1237]

8 is my first tekken and the only reason i stuck with Paul was because i had experience with him in the demo. Other characters look way more flashy and fun but it's such a chore to learn how to use a character in this game. I'd rather stick with death fist and a simple gameplan than lab for another 5 hours learning a new character

[@Boogard]

Respect sometimes simplicity is a great thing

[@shinrah7636]

Damn, u are my polar opposite, one reason im addicted of this game is theres so much to learn, after hitting garyu or shiryu on a character i move on to a new one to learn and start fresh (will took me 1-2days studying a new one), btw im garyu on paul, he's quite fun to play, i dont want to push higher for now but i can see myself hitting blue ranks easily using him. Paul heat mode + big guard breaks are so fun to use.

[@MianZubair-yj2sn]

​@@Boogard boogard I like Jun kazama Reina mishima ling xiaoyu lili rochefort asuka kazama but I play Jun more jun🕊 is my main in tekken 8

[@braccialefrancesco6933]

Want to know the fun part? Paul can also be labed to learn some pretty neat in dept stuf, like the triple truster, the 3-2 sway cancel deathfist as a combo ender. IS THANKS TO PAUL that i learned how the walls wortk, cos of the many interaction you can create. So cheerio

[@paytonturner1421]

I have played Paul in the betta of Tekken 8 and I played him when I got the game. I can say he's very cool and interesting to play gameplay wise and personality-wise something about him, just screens awesome dude! And I thought people were complaining about Eddy's haircut.

[@cukkucake]

Haircut aside, I think he’s become less popular because of his defensive playstyle. Deathfist spam only carries you so far in ranks, and after that point you have to slow down and start playing defensively which I think turns a lot of new players off when they realize that. Personally, he’s one of my personal favorite characters to play, and from what I’ve seen from other legacy Paul players the majority of them agree that he’s a great character in Tekken 8

[@JohnGlow2]

I do think we might be selling short just how much a design or redesign impacts popularity though. I remember seeing a video about how Hwoarang is suddenly much more popular than he’s ever been, and he’s already a wildly popular character, and I honestly think it comes down to his appearance, being, imo, probably the best he’s looked in any game. He looks straight up like THEE main protagonist in T8. So Paul’s odd new design choice is definitely offputting for past Paul players and I can definitely see that being the case for newcomers too.

[@trenderbender1547]

Exactly, first thing that comes to mind is AK in Tekken 7. He became of the the most played characters strictly based on his visual design which is one of the best if not the best base outfit in T7 imo.

[@fuckthisstupidasshandleshit]

Hwoarang's new design is ass.

[@IStareAtGames]

guys their is customization, you can change his damn haircut, its not that steep

[@blackjam2683]

Paul is like a secondary character. People that do play him are specialist and probably most likely sitting in the higher purple rank and beyond. Tekken 8 has alot of flair and sparkle now and it makes people want to try newer character, therefore people who were Paul players in 7 are most likely trying newer characters and make switches. I was a Paul main in 7 but now Paul is my "Blowing off steam" pick.

[@TheTyroofToriyama]

Bruh his qcf 3 is just dying to be a db3 What on earth is going on? He’s got such weak lows that don’t make people wanna duck. How can I ever mix people properly? There’s no risk for standing

[@Anci3ntz0wn]

As a new player there are a few things. First off his entire aesthetic is awful in this game. I saw him in the last games and he looked cool and tough, now he just looks poor. He has a fantastic movelist and is actually a good character but I can’t get past the aesthetic and character personality that doesn’t fit me.

[@braccialefrancesco6933]

Premise: i am a casual who enjoys the game. I am maybe one of the few who loved Paul, back in T7 i mained Jack, but Paul always had a special place in my heart. The haircut is yes a downgrade but, as stated in the video, you can equip the old outfit. More importantly few to none mentioned his personality (that damn smile) being goofy, but yet cracking you up and letting you feel his presence on the field with every voiceline. As i picked up Paul i loved him with his new stuff, definetly not as flashy as the other characters, but indeed gave me for the first time the feel to learn what frame data is, what moves should i use and stuff. In older tekken's i didn't care, in T7 with jack i simply went in "scrub" mode. I agree with everything, but one of the main points would be the Story mode. YOU CAN'T put that "i'll give him a good smack", dialogue with Law, and not even at least give me a chance to URYYYAAAA Kazuya's solar plexus. That alone almost killed my vibe. If the devs wanted him to be a legacy character, AND THE CLOWN of the group, make him at least a compelling one, not some random bozo wich he is not. But hey i still love to play him and will keep improving, and labbing what i can.

[@williamgrant4769]

Im so glad u made this video.. hit TGS with law but am struggling to no end with Paul

[@stvaym138]

i think this makes a pretty good sense. personally as someone who transitioned from tekken 3 straight to tekken 8, there arent much changes i felt from playing paul compare to jin or bryan or king. but thats reasonably why hes my main now. paul is paul and im happy with it. i still havent rly tried going for the other characters, but bcs i just rly like how he is still the same paul i play from all those years ago and i havent got the reason why i should go for another character as long as death fist still kicks ass. lmao

[@Toeknee994L]

As someone that has been playing Paul for 20+ years, you're spot on with the feeling left behind. He still feels like the Paul I played with in Tekken 3 while all the other characters have evolved with the game systems. Why the hell would I charge a deathfist if I will get punished so fucking hard? Also lol at "thousands of people dropping the character because of the tiny head next to the health bar is a bit of a stretch"

[@Nomdro]

I have fever dream memories of old tekken from my youth, and I remember Paul's ridiculous standing hair. So seeing his redesign is kinda jarring yeah, but his og skin/hair is still in game. So I don't see an issue with that, same as Eddie when he comes out. As a Tekken newbie I picked up Paul for a bit after getting overwhelmed with tryna play Lili. Just cause his kit is super straightforward and rewarding for mixing up your opponent. But it got boring kinda quick so I switched to Alisa. I'm sure Paul has a lot more depth, but surface level, he just death fist, demo man, and there's a lot more unique characters aside from strongest in the universe. Even though I do love Paul.

[@justinguevara747]

Absolutely agree with all your points. I have been a Paul player since t3. And I have to say playing him on T8 online has these nostalgic feels, but if i want to keep up with the times, I'm trying a different character now. I think in a competitive standpoint, I'm having a hard time poking, and punishing. Probably a skill issue on my end as my moves are still stuck in T5

[@carbord260]

i picked up tekken about a week ago as my first fighting game, and I immediately went for paul. It might go against what you said in the video, but to me he was the flashiest character around. his goofy moves and his high damage along with his sort of "I'm the best" attitude really made him appealing to me.

[@davidgabay9398]

I played Paul in Tekken 3 and it felt very different in a way I couldn't put into words, this video does a good job of explaining it!

[@McDavidav]

I was new to the series and I immediately gravitated towards Paul because every one of his moves feels like it hits like a truck. You can feel the weight in each punch, combined with the sounds and the excellent voice acting he definitely feels like a character that only needs one punch to be excellent.

[@fede603]

I played a bit of Tekken 2 as a kid and that's been my only exposure with the franchise to date. I've been playing Tekken 8 for a few days now and I'm having so much fun with Paul. In a game where every other character is pulling off combos you'd see in an anime (I'm looking at you, Viktor), it feels bizarrely refreshing to play a somewhat basic character. Paul's simple and easy moveset helps a lot when getting into the game. It also feels incredibly satisfying when you land a deathfist. With that in mind, "OSU"

[@godzilla014]

I was a Heihachi main since about Tekken 3/4. And when he didn't come back for 8 I moved to Paul. As soon as you said his kit feels outdated and like it hasn't really changed like how literally everyone has become super flashy. I was like "holy shit that is exactly how it feels!" But I still love Paul. Part of it feeling like he'll always be Paul brings me comfort. So yes I agree that his kit feels like it didn't change or really transition from 7 to 8. It makes me in a weird way feel better that he hasn't changed

[@sluggingbread]

I must be the only person in the world that actually picked this guy as a newcomer because he looks cool and the hair is actually pretty cool. Not to mention the customization is right there.

[@paytonturner1421]

Also, Paul's new hairstyle, I thought I was all right but in customization I will try to get his original haircut for some of the costumes I make.

[@St4hlz]

I really do appreciate that they kept him more grounded to be honest. I used to main Kazuya and got really turned of by the whole devil look and lasers. The same with Jin. People may call it cool and flashy, but to me it just looks edgy and over the top. Paul staying Paul is something I'm very happy about as he seems more grounded in an increasingly ridiculous universe. Balance wise compared to the real big hitters his damage even seems lackluster. Yeah deathfist does a lot of dmg, but compare that to a full launcher from someone like Drag or Feng it's just not the same. Take away the fact that he doesn't have strings up his arse like Azu and other popular characters and suddenly it makes sense. In a game where defense is harder compared to flowcharting your opponents forever, it's just way easier to pick someone who will destroy people with much less requirement.

[@jacobe2891]

As a guy who picked up the game 2 days ago (destroyer rank atm), his running 2 (RKO) is a really satisfying combo finisher for me. It looks and feels cool, and it gives me some room to death fist punish a potential getup sweep.

[@DirtiestFish]

I'm new to Tekken, started with 8, and I mained Jin for a while before taking a break from playing, came back, mained Devil Jin, took another break, now I'm playing Paul and I made him look like Kurt Cobain and stocks are up bro he's so goated

[@terrencepascual4137]

As someone who really jumped into Tekken at 8 and have played the others but never really picked a main because I was terrible at them. Paul really made me understand the game better than the two weeks I spent with King on T8 release. He's fun and his damage is amazing but yes I feel the same way. I wish I had cool flashy combos and shit. Thats why Im trying to learn some other characters too.

[@jeffhoogervorst3287]

with tekken 8 as my first tekken game, i scrolled trough every character in the game to figure out how each character plays, what the gameplans are like. how the combos feel on them. and generally if i would like to play them. looking at paul i saw a guy who's kinda in the middle of everything. i'm not picking him for being flashy. if i want that i'll rather play reina or lars. if i want to play as a huge dude with big punches i like to go over the top with jack. i mainly play Law & i just picked up Asuka/Steve since i am learning how the game actually plays out. Paul just doesn't stand out to me. luckily my friend who got me into tekken mains Paul so i see what he does otherwise i would never learn him. i am sorry if i said something wrong. this is purely my own opinion to reply to the question in the video how a complete new player looks at Paul.

[@professoremil]

Am I the only person who thinks Paul’s hair isn’t even that bad? He’s let his hair down before in previous games, it’s just parted differently this time. Not only that, but I also think people are only calling it the “Karen cut” because he’s blonde. I thought it looked a bit odd when I first saw it too, but I think that’s only because we’re so used to seeing the iconic hightop haircut. I’ve gotten used to his new look by now though and even think he looks kinda cute with it not being slicked up like usual. If his hair were the reason for his popularity dropping, then people would be putting aside Eddy as well for the exact same reason due to the Killmonger cut. And yet no one is doing that from what I’ve heard and seen.

[@yiannisv3573]

You are one of the extremely few who likes his hair. Google karen hair and you will see that same haircut. Now find one guy who has that hair (and does not look ridicoulous). He just doesn't look masculine. And his face when loading the game looks like shit too, like a homeless guy who is obsessed with his hair. His whole default design is a huge fail. Jeans with knee protectors and a rope..? What the fk is this.. I still play him in 8 as he's always been my favourite but damn

[@regyomallard3143]

I'm not a while fan of the 'Karen' name in general but its just how language changes. But that haircut is truly the 'Karen' cut, pressed and all.

[@professoremil]

@@regyomallard3143 Paul’s hair is straight and free-flowing, so no. You’re thinking of a permed haircut and he doesn’t have that at all actually. You can visually see the difference in-game because his hair is shoulder length and flows in the wind as he fights. If it was cut shorter and matted to his head then yeah, that would be the Karen cut through-and-through. 😅 Edit: I probably explained poorly, so in simpler terms, the “Karen” hair is basically a blonde pixie cut. Very key difference.

[@jkthegreat5687]

⁠@@professoremilthe pixie cut can vary in length dawg… Hair style generally have room for variation

[@glaziumtck8593]

As a new player to Tekken, he either has a Karen cut or an emo weeb cut. Both are cringy af to look at, in my opinion. I bounced off of him the second i saw him, and it stayed like that for 100 hours. His classic hair or clothing didn't look good to me either. However, he is now my main, and i f*cking love him. His whole look had to change first before i tried him though. Oh, and being tired/hating on the Killmonger hairlstyle is nowhere near as popular as hating on the Karen or Emo hairstyle.

[@30year-oldboomer17]

Ok, absolute new guy here to tekken 8, have not touched T7 or any other game yet (though i do wanna play T7) I'll give some context as to why I picked Paul as my first character: Death fist. Is there any other character who just hits raw damage as hard as paul? NO. I saw a character with a "high on life" smile and saw that he had great fundamentals and picked him because I dont NEED to know how to KBD. I dont NEED to know how to do electrics. I dont NEED unique mechanics or flashy moves to get easy wins on my less experienced friends because all I need is 3 deathfists and a demoman and you die. as for the hair thing, i know you as a legacy guy have been saying "its not his hair there's something wrong here fundamentally" but i feel the hair is a big part of it, its part of the puzzle. I like paul so I looked him up on tekken wiki and found a character who started in this series as a man with fists so strong he rivaled the main characters. Now he's been left behind as a literal joke, getting into fights with bears, pandas, and never having any money. At least my man Ken from SF may be down in the dumps but they didnt turn his character into a sidelined useless fighter outside of in game. THAT feels wrong tldr: tekken newcomer picks paul for FAT fucking damage, gets upset that guy doesnt look like a guile ripoff anymore and isnt treated with respect

[@Madheim777]

makes sense. and Paul's deathfist damage was so brutal that it literally k.o. in 3 or 4 of them.

[@liviekumori]

He's really simple, but he hits as hard as a fucking truck. That makes him really appealing to me, though I just picked Xiaoyu and I'm not changing any soon lmao

[@VoskiEdwards8744]

I love Paul and been playing him since tekken one! But you are 100% right its hard to keep up with the new players with basic Paul

[@vapersmith7859]

Its funny cause I now play Paul & Alisa despite this trend and both are owning. Sure nobody ELSE is playing Paul and Alisa but that doesn't mean that I can't use both to hunt everyone. Thing is Paul appeals to me because I like his large powerful feeling attacks as well as the fact that he clicks. I am STRUGGLING to learn the other characters kits in Tekken 8 aside from Alisa who for some reason flows like water. The rest of the roster I find either obnoxious or straight up tough to grasp then Paul is there for the first character I have in my roster that I can both grasp and isn't hated by the rest of the planet as well as the fact he's an American hero who doesn't have this Villain aspect I find Law having.

[@Chris_7366]

I’ve been saying to make Paul’s 2 3 his new 10f punish

[@Boogard]

Good idea actually

[@Ninjabob568]

fully support this

[@TimeWarrior14]

Wait. 2,3 is guaranteed?

[@vaisenstv]

@@TimeWarrior14 only on counter hit.

[@Qcf2]

Paul player here since tekken 3, I totally agree with you, pauls feels really outdated, sure they gave him some new moves, but compare it to other characters in Tk8, he only feels like Tk7 season 5 addition. its really hard to use him especially now Ive reached blue rank. Its really very tiring to use him compare to ither tekken characters here in TK8, I only got him to blue rank thism week, compare it to my other main, Hwoarang, I can clearly see its much easier to rank up. I have also tried using other characters like Dragunov, Kazuya, Jin, King and Azucena, to test my theory, didnt get them to blue rank, but playing with them was a much easier experience compared to Paul

[@TheHoliOne]

Nah I completely agree with you Paul feels like a chore to play it’s hard to turtle in this game with so much focus on aggression. I got to Fujin with King yesterday and now trying to do the same with Paul it feels so difficult because of his defensive play style and with so many great long range moves that a lot of these characters have Paul is probably the most prone to being kept out and ironically as much as T8 is focused on aggression going in feels much more difficult with Paul than my other characters like King, Kuma, and Jack

[@TimeWarrior14]

I like that Paul isn't that different. We NEED a Legacy character. and Paul is still playing Legacy Tekken. I feel Tekken needs a reminder of where it started. I also feel Kazuya still is also Legacy. Paul,Bryan and Kazuya imo are 3 characters that needs to be like this

[@Zethisis25]

They just need to make the legacy characters faster. They are too slow for T8

[@PCG117]

You have some really good points, great video

[@jewelsunniheartsfitnessanime]

Sonic mania music in background is a Win for this legend of Paul Phoenix

[@Tekkenfan-tp1kz]

They gave him the ken treatment 😭

[@chouyuugoureplays3546]

he is visually a ken expy (considering his t1 design) so☠☠☠

[@maximus0928]

Paul and asuka are my old reliables. Yeah both their looks got skewered but in a weird way it kind of fits their personalities

[@trevienseager1755]

Man i main paul in this tekken and i couldnt put my finger on what was wrong with him. You are right, it feels like they really didnt do anything with him.

[@Xocoo]

It's so like Paul to be really strong, but be really unpopular at the same time XD.

[@blacklegsanji7108]

I'm a newish player who came into tekken during the end cycle of the game (like in 2022-23). Paul was one of the characters that i was drawn to. I think the reason he was popular previously was because he was easy and had big reward. Just look at how much damage death fist did in 7, especially on counter hit. Even if death fist gets harder to land in higher ranks, in lower ranks it was always fun to just throw the unblockable or a deathfist and take off 50-100% health. Other characters being strong don't matter In tekken 8 he's more well balanced compared to the rest of the roster and also tekken 7. Deathfist doesn't do nearly as much damage. The Unblockable doesn't work the same way. So there's less reason to pick Paul if you want that quick and easy reward. Further all other characters have been buffed in tekken, especiallly with heat. So almost everyone can do crazy damage and play as a "power" class.

[@MDobs-ko8bp]

I'm a low tier where. I mained Paul and Yoshimitsu in every Tekken except Tekken 8. I went straight for Leroy. I just made it to Kinshin once I reach Tekken King I'm labbing Shaheen. Part of Paul attraction was he was like this character with tank controls, had good movement in neutral, but not too many moves that advanced him. He was difficult to win with at high level. It was a challenge. That challenge has been removed. Even in Tekken 7 compared to other characters if you just picked Paul up, it would still be easier to win with like Kaz or Jin or Lili, and so on..... The tech and challenge of Paul has been removed. Demo man used to be a real just just frame, ff2:1 used to be real. All Paul had was df2 and that's all he needed to be feared paired with his jabs that have very large hit box and d1 with very long range and being a 6 to 9 or up to down vertical mid. Now everything he has is good and it's just boring.

[@CestJordan]

I’m a new player, I main Paul cause he’s a badass hard hitting biker dude. I like that he’s pretty straightforward, and few things feel better than hitting back to back death fists.

[@GarrickJohnson-pc6ws]

Well I just started to play with Paul considering the fact that I can't play that well with kazuya I like Paul's basic technique I've gotten so used to that so people don't have to like him or pick him but I like him with his power and defense which still makes him a powerhouse fighter

[@BeniBape]

I know I’m super late but you perfectly described why I didn’t like Paul. Now I haven’t played tekken for like 7 years tekken 8 is my first tekken and I was interested in Paul but when I played him he just didn’t feel right because he just felt boring but I’ve picked him up recently after playing drag for awhile and honestly he’s a breath of fresh air ngl so I think a legacy character kinda has a place in a game like this but hey I’m just a guy in warrior what do I know.

[@Nico-tz7ut]

jeah, paul plays extremely similar to t7 paul, theres not a lot to discover about the character. he feels like a t7 character in t8. he cant sustain pressure and be in your face all the time with + frames and strings like other characters. he relies on landing a ch or df2 or deathfist to do serious damage. he also doesnt have a easy approach tool like most of the characters like azucena wr3,2 or drag wr2. the character feels a bit out of place in the game.

[@vaisenstv]

THIS. So much this. I've been a Paul main since forever and I've had the same feeling. I agree with you, I think it's because he is not flashy, nothing about him is. His main costume is meh, he doesn't have impressive gimmicks, etc. I still like him, but even other legacy characters like Law make me raise my eyebrow higher.

[@dededededededewedq]

Much better video execution than Vars' incomprehensible ramblings

[@KoufalKoufax]

because new players cant play shit if its an honest and fundamental-based character, these weak ass players tend to play the cheese-oriented BS character.

[@Bonzi77]

the moment i recreated his hair down look from t4 (using reina's hair) he suddenly felt way better to play. it sounds stupid or like i'm joking but i'm completely dead serious try it out some time. it just makes him feel like a more serious character

[@CaptainScorpio24]

i jumped from tekken 3 to tekken 8. i was a dr b champion in my childhood days in local game parlours . my next favourite was howrang, lee, gunjack , tru ogra , king ,, nina , anna, yoshimitsu paul least favourite were xiaou , julie and jin nvr played much and nvr won brayan was also good but difficult player

[@brentlee6616]

It’s like what tendo XI said in his video “what your tekken 8 main says about you”. He says phoenix players been playing the same thing for the last 2 decades plus.

[@miguelribeiro1601]

I recently picked up Paul and dropped him as soon as I got to know his best combo routes are locked behind a just frame input that comes out even less than ch df2 pewgf It's just way too hard for what it's worth

[@JoyKazuhira]

i agree with the devs leaving him and just used for marketing. 1. in T7, you can control the pace with the f1+2 then check the opponents reaction to the next move df1. everyone has flashy moves now, some can even interrupt with just a heat engager. 2. theres not enough death in deathfist. they also changed the behavior of qcf3+4. 3. f4 and superman punch now is useless. f231 gone, no more free deathfist and rage art cancel comeback lmao. 4. wall carry qcf1 into 1 to ff21 not working anymore. his wake up 3 cant do counter hits anymore also his running tackle isnt even a thing now. 5. hair. that was my paul experience in T8. i main heihachi and playing paul for fun and stress relieve in T7. playing paul right now is just for players who has extensive matchup knowledge but for casuals like me, im not having fun anymore.

[@michaelpark4060]

As a first time player who picked paul this all makes sense. Initially I picked paul because I was told he’s an honest character that is good to learn tekken fundamentals with. That said, amongst the flashy characters, I’ve learned to love the simplicity of punching really hard 😤

[@taunggoy]

I agree with the flashiness. Just recently installed T8, and I've always mained with Paul since T3. The thing I feel could be better is his juggles. With most characters, stringing moves together to form a wall-to-wall juggle is possible. I have still to find a move set that can do this with Paul; even center-to-wall juggles does not look flashy enough until you hit heat engagers and such. It's getting a bit boring to play, that I'm seriously considering playing another character with more possible combos. The Karen haircut definitely does not help.

[@ryanmacfarlane1831]

This is my first TEKKEN game and I picked Paul as my main. I saw main mans streak series with Paul and thought he must be pretty strong hahaha plus I found his and laws bit in the story mode absolutely hilarious. What I've found with paul is that I need to be really close to be effective and that a lot of my moves are very punishable. I just have such a hard time getting my opponents to respect me. The charge up moves are great but they have a really big wind up time. Paul also doesn't have many plus frame moves or strings which is difficult because when I tried playing other characters they had so many high/low/mid strings that could chip away. I also know I'm very much a beginner as well so I am still learning, practicing my punishes and checking frames etc but I do get wins much much easier with Victor who I played for a bit too see the hype. Pauls throw game is amazing, too the point where I think it might be the best in the game besides King. His crouch tackle mixups are fantastic and no one expects them. Overall I really enjot the big damage with paul and thats whats addictive for me, landing a launcher and ending the round is the best feeling but honestly, landing that launcher is still very challenging for me

[@ryanmacfarlane1831]

I found that with Paul my best bet is to bait a whiff punish or land a heat engager, obviously the only way to do this is get a good read on the opponent. Easier said than done for newbies

[@tharnwow]

As a new player in Tekken , who plays Paul, i can say, that there is really a ton of annoying stuff with plus frames, that people do on other characters, while Paul has just simple buttons, no crazy flashy stuff to press

[@BritbongZoomer]

I feel the exact way about Bryan in T8. Everyone is crazy as hell in this game but Bryan is just same old Bryan

[@EliTheGleason]

As someone new to the series he seemed super cool, and then his story is hes just late to the tourney

[@TheHoliOne]

As a Paul player myself i have to agree with basically everything in this video i’ve been playing Paul for about 3 years so due to character loyalty i’ve stuck to basically all characters i played in Tekken 7 but as good as he is, he feels like a struggle to play with everyone being able to fly across the screen or hitting you from a football field away it’s been tough playing neutral and him not being flashy and cool doesn’t help his case. It also doesn’t help that Paul has been treated like a joke since Tekken 4 he hasn’t had anything interesting since then He’s gone from being the only one to rival the Mishimas in strength and the one to defeat Ogre to a Joke character. But despite all that Paul is still one of my favourites in the series along with King and Kuma so i’m always gonna stick to them no matter what and i seriously hope more people pick up Paul he’s fun and strong once you get over the weaknesses and he’s also a character which you can spend years learning cause he has combo routes with difficulty that rivals the Mishimas’ electric (QCF+1 pickup and Sway cancel into death fist at the wall)

[@Boogard]

Yeah here's hoping they do something more interesting with him in tekken 9 lol

[@_pku55]

new player here, decided to play paul because he's just a cool guy and he's my main now. hate what they did to his hair though

[@Davidb5212]

Your videos are getting much better

[@Boogard]

Really appreciate it

[@FreeAimDog]

wow, so the tekken series in 1 year older than me

[@myv112]

Paul is the Garen of Tekken

[@Boogard]

perfectly said good to see another league player here

[@Lipto1337]

lol

[@mikitadou]

I play exclusively Paul since tekken 4

[@ZeroSleap]

Paul being Paul works great for me, having a character not become bonkers with new systems is also kinda nice. And comparing kazuya and Paul, well Pros play a lot more Paul than Kazuya for a reason

[@Brass_Heathen]

Yeah I feel like with all the changes coming with T8 mechanics and their decision to keep Paul classic Tekken that he really just comes off as old news. He honestly just feels like the default choice if you don't care who you want to play. As for making him rise in the popularity ranks? Just buff his damage 😅 works every time. 😂

[@Boogard]

Lol get ready for 150 damage combos 🤣 😂

[@TimeWarrior14]

Paul is the Ryu of Tekken. Both characters in my opinon needs to stay Legacy

[@Low4689]

I agree bro, Paul got left behind. It's sad, and i'm not talking about his hair. His playstyle is for old tekken games. Look at the other legacy characters like Kazuya - he perfectly fits in the tekken 8 system. And another, look at Yoshimitsu. LOOK AT YOSHIMITSU! Man, his redesign is on a different level. He was meant for Tekken 8 while Paul still plays like Tekken 6. They did Paul dirty.

[@HeyimFel]

Newcomer to Tekken 8 here, picked up Paul as my character in the demo and I'm sticking with him I think the reason Paul has a lower pick rate is exclusively because you need incredibly good fundamentals to keep up with a lot of the things people are throwing out. Most of my early online matches (and even some now) end up being matchup and knowledge checks because people have so many strings and extensions that Paul doesn't really have an answer to.

[@Itsallover57]

Doesn't matter if you can customize, as a new player you still look at a character and think immediately, "Is that fighter cool?" and if they aren't you do not want to play them until much later in your tekken career. With the large amount of new players whatever pauls popularity was before gets diluted because people look at him, think he looks uncanny and then pick some jaguar mask man, a shoe collector or the one they want to bang.

[@DamenLu]

I main Paul since T4, his story ending & hair cut was so good. Then they make him a muscle brain and clown funny guy (same as his team mate Law)

[@goldman2g547]

had a pockey paul for entire lifespan of tekken 7. wanted ro main him in 8, the single reason i didn't is the ub2 remova.l this move is a reason picked him up back then

[@runemaster-]

I'm one of those few people who mained only Paul and fell in love with the character since the old days (i started at Tekken 2). And in the older Tekken games, Paul was cool. He wasn't a goofy character. He beat Ogre, and his hair down in Tekken 4 looks super cool. He only started losing his brain in 5. So as a legacy Paul user, the one thing he lacks now is is coolness/ badassery image. In 5-7 he is stupid in the story / endings and I hated that, but at least in his gameplay, he still looks cool and badass. Now in 8, he is goofy even in gameplay. He smiles and while i like that but the smile isn't cool. The smile is goofy and more towards clownly smile. Plus the karen haircut. He doesnt show his seriousness/ love for martial art anymore. So the more reason people left him. Data agrees that NOBODY wants to play a clown. More so for newcomers. People wanna pick character that looks cool, and T8 Paul doesn't reflect that. Too much goofyness and clown aura even in gameplay, is what killed T8 Paul popularity. Visual attracts people and nobody is going to pick Paul if his new look is bad AND he also acts goofy in the gameplay. If Namco wants people to love Paul then they need to make Paul looks cool. That's just it. As a long time Paul fan of course I stayed loyal and even embraced his new look. As I showed on my art here, I tried to make him look cool with the new hair. twitter.com/dippypradipta/status/1743934664266662198 But I still kinda cringed everytime i see him doing the clown smile. Is asking a cool Paul design and attitude for Tekken 9 is too much to ask?

[@jackal27]

Paul was my original main in the times I played casually with friends back during Tekken 3, but he definitely feels a bit lacking today. Oddly enough, my kid LOVES him and does not like his classic haircut at all lol. I really think they should have just brought back his Tekken 4 look instead.

[@alvisenicoletti2927]

I'm a new player, this is actually my first fighting game (although I did mess around with Tekken 1 and 2 as a kid), but I still went with Paul... I'm at purple ranks and I don't feel like trying out any other character...

[@Boogard]

Respect paul is definitely still fun

[@hand8007]

Something being easily change is no excuse for it. And you still see the hair every loading screen

[@gabrielpereiramendes3463]

#excelent Paul has been my main character since TK6. I am playing with him in TK8.

[@EligosIV]

Paul reminds me of my dad and he's a chill ass dude