An extraordinary strategy game where you can experience about 500 years of history from the Renaissance, the Age of Exploration, and the Civil Revolution from all aspects of politics, economy, diplomacy, and military on a global scale. That is “Universal Europe V“is. The latest work in the long-awaited series, which has been 12 years since the previous work “Europa Universalis IV”, will be released on November 5, 2025 by Paradox Interactive for PC (Steam) is scheduled to be released.
When you hear that it’s a strategy game with a world history theme, some people may shy away from it because they think it’s difficult. Certainly, understanding the historical background and complex rules is not easy. However, this game has so much depth that once you get hooked, you can spend thousands of hours playing it. This unfathomable charm is loved by fans all over the world, and is the biggest reason why the series has continued for so long.
I am one of those who was fascinated by this series. He had played the previous game for well over 4,000 hours, participated in volunteer translations, and even published his own mods. I went out of my way to get a new PC for this work, and was waiting in perfect condition when the task of writing this review occurred. Needless to say, when I heard that I could play the game before its release, I jumped at the chance. How did this work appear to me?
In this article, we will evaluate whether “Europa Universalis V” is suitable as a successor to the series, and whether it is genuinely interesting as a game. The first page introduces the overall system, the second page a play report styled in a historical novel, the third page discusses points of dissatisfaction, and finally an overall evaluation. Please start reading from the page that interests you.
At the time of writing this article, we were provided with a development version by the manufacturer. Please note that specifications may differ from the product version.
This work is scheduled to be officially translated into Japanese. However, the translation quality of the development version was extremely low, and it was not possible to accurately understand the content of the game in the Japanese version. Therefore,In this article, the evaluation will be based on the English version.. Please note that some terminology may be different from the Japanese version. Please note that the translation itself will be evaluated on the third page.
System introduction
On the first page, we will introduce the game system of this work, comparing it with the previous work and other Paradox Interactive works. If you feel that the explanation is abstract and difficult to understand, please read it together with the historical novel style play report on the second page.
first impression
My first impression of this work is that it starts up quickly.
Paradox Interactive works typically have long startup times. In my environment, it was normal for it to take several minutes to start the previous version. I was expecting the game to wait a few minutes, but it started up in just over ten seconds. Even though I have a new PC, it is still too fast.
I quickly understood why. The design of the game itself had changed. It has been improved to display the title screen with the minimum necessary loading time and continue loading resources. At the same time, the previous launcher was also integrated into the game itself, and DLC and Mods were now managed on the title screen. Although it is a small improvement, it is a great improvement that will contribute to improving the QoL of players.
The setting of “Europa Universalis V”
The setting of this work is all over the world from 1337 to 1836 AD. You can freely choose any country that existed in the world at that time and play, and of course you can play in Japan as well. Unlike the previous game, the starting year is fixed, so you won’t be able to play in the Napoleonic Wars or the Warring States Period from the beginning. 1337 AD is the year when the Hundred Years’ War began in Europe, and in Japan it corresponds to the beginning of the Nanbokucho period.
This work is a so-called sandbox type game. There are no clear objectives or victory conditions. Players can aim to conquer the world, create an ideal nation, or simply avoid destruction, depending on their preferences. For players who just want a play goal, achievements of various difficulty levels are also available.
The culmination of Paradox Interactive’s work
This game falls into the category of grand strategy among strategy games. Grand strategy is a term that refers to strategies that use not only military, but also political, economic, and diplomatic means.
The developer, Paradox Interactive, has released many grand strategy games into the world. Among these, the two that have had a major influence on this work are “Crusader Kings III”, which is set in the Middle Ages, and “Victoria 3”, which is set in the modern era.
“Europa Universalis V”, which deals with the period between the medieval and modern times, imports many elements from both works, making it a culmination of the company’s titles. Because so many elements were integrated, I initially doubted whether the system would be able to maintain consistency. However, when I actually played the game, it worked without any major failures, which surprised me to the core.
Characters and POP
The characters in this work, both historical and fictional, are all represented as 3D models, each with their own ability values, characteristics, culture, and religion. There are three types of ability scores: governance, diplomacy, and military, each of which is evaluated on a scale of 100. Traits represent a person’s personality and special abilities, and are heavily influenced by Crusader Kings. Historical dynasties and ancestors are also set, and you can enjoy viewing the family tree of your family.
Regular people other than important characters are managed in units called “POPs”. This is an element imported from Victoria, and groups people who share the same location, religion, culture, and social class. For example, “Farmers from the Saigoku culture who live in Kyoto and believe in Shintoism” would be one POP. POP will gradually change as the game progresses by being divided and integrated.
politics
POP is divided into four classes: aristocrats, clergy, citizens, and commoners, each with their own power, privileges, and satisfaction. If the level of satisfaction decreases, they will plot a rebellion, so the ruler must take various measures to please each class.
One way to increase class satisfaction is to give privileges. There are many variations of privileges, such as serfdom privileges granted to nobles, administrative privileges granted to clergy, and trade monopoly privileges granted to citizens, each with special effects. Granting privileges increases not only satisfaction but also the power of the class, and relatively the power of the ruler decreases. It is not easy to revoke privileges once granted, so be careful not to give too many privileges.
This work is not a game where a country becomes rich and prosperous simply by increasing its territory through war. Each land is inhabited by people with different cultures and religions, and rebellions are more likely to occur in lands where the culture and religion are different from your own country. New territory gained in war must be consolidated over time.
There are other elements in this work, such as a parliament made up of representatives from each class, a cabinet that supports the ruler, laws that define the nation’s basic institutions, and social values that express the nation’s long-term trends.
economy
A strong economy is essential to maintaining a strong military. Not only the military, but everything costs money, both in the real world and in the game world. Without economic power, no matter what strategy you devise, it will end up being just a mere theory.
The country’s main source of income is taxes from its citizens. However, if tax rates are increased unnecessarily, class satisfaction will decrease and this will lead to rebellion. In order to increase tax revenue, you must not only raise the tax rate, but also invest the funds of the national treasury in buildings such as farms, mines, and guilds, and raise the country’s productivity itself.
This game also introduced concepts such as road maintenance and territorial control. Even in a country with a large territory, the ruler’s control only extends to the area around the capital at the beginning of the game. You can expect to increase your income by improving the roads and increasing your control over the regions far from the capital.
In this game, the market and trade elements have been expanded to the same level as in “Victoria.” It is also possible to give detailed instructions such as subsidizing buildings with low productivity or importing trade goods needed by the people from foreign markets. However, the player does not necessarily have to give all the instructions. Until you get used to it, you can leave the operations to AI and automate it completely.
diplomatic
The “Europa Universalis” series is a work in which diplomacy is important. That’s why this game has so many diplomatic options, and most of the diplomatic commands that existed in the previous game have been implemented from the beginning.
Alliances are now not only simple one-on-one alliances, but also multilateral alliances. Additionally, as the concept of dynasties has expanded to the level of Crusader Kings, royal marriages have become more important. For example, in my play, a marriage alliance developed, and the same person sometimes served as the ruler of four countries (Dominant Alliance).
The Holy Roman Empire, the Catholic Church, and the Japanese Shogunate, which were represented in separate systems in the previous game, have been combined into a common system called the International Organization. Each international organization has its own laws, and each organization’s own rules are expressed in law.
military
In principle, in order to start a war in this work, there must be a good cause called a “war cause”. In the previous work, it was customary to build an intelligence network in the other country and fabricate the reasons for starting a war, but in this work, it is now common to obtain the reasons for starting a war through the parliament of one’s own country. Although it is possible to start a war without a reason for starting a war, it is better to avoid it until you are new to it, as it will damage the stability of the country.
In addition to regular soldiers and mercenaries, the military includes conscript soldiers that can only be called up during wars. This is a similar element to Crusader Kings. At the beginning of the game, conscript soldiers form the center of the army, but as time goes on, the army changes to a standing army.
The rules for operating units and occupying land are not much different from the previous game. The process of achieving war goals, earning victory points, and making demands on enemy countries during peace negotiations is similar to the previous game. Exploration and colonization have been abstracted and are now managed on dedicated screens.
technology
There are two types of technology that appear in this work: “progress” and “system”. The game is divided into a total of six eras, including the Renaissance and Reformation eras, and when the in-game date reaches a certain age, you advance to the next era and unlock the advancements and institutions unique to that era.
Progress includes common technologies such as universities and bureaucracy. Advancement has a technology tree, and the research speed is determined by the literacy rate of the population. Some countries have unique advancements, such as Reconquista.
On the other hand, institutions are the technologies that represent the era, such as the Renaissance and letterpress printing. It originates somewhere in the world and slowly spreads from there to the rest of the world.
event
This game has a huge number of events. Events include those that recreate historical events and those that are completely fictitious, but even fictitious random events vary in probability and content depending on the state of the country, so they are not completely up to chance.
In the event, multiple options with different effects are presented, and players must make decisions that suit their strategy at the time. In this game, icons are now displayed for options that are based on historical facts, so if you want to play according to historical facts, you can identify the desired option at a glance.
Long-term historical events involving multiple nations are now represented by a new system called “situations.” These include the Hundred Years’ War, the Reformation, and Japan’s Sengoku period, with special maps, rules, and ending conditions.
On the next page, we will introduce how the system we have explained so far works in actual play in a historical novel style play report.
