Europa Universalis V, Paradox's Next Grand Strategy, A Love Letter To Hardcore Fans

Europa Universalis V is finally revealed, and it has not exactly been a secret. Now, Paradox is synonymous with the grand strategy genre, be it the spacefaring Stellaris, spreadsheet simulator Hearts of Iron IV, or just Crusader Kings III. 

Among its large repertoire is the grand strategy series Europa Universalis. With the likes of Victoria 3 and CK3 being relatively new, at least by Paradox standards, it was no doubt a new Europa Universalis game that would be in the works.

A lot of people actually knew about it way before, as Paradox has been very open, basically having dev diaries for one of their 'Project Caesar'. Now, from there, we knew what the map was going to be like and many of the finer details, too, which, when put together, could only mean that Project Caesar was a new Europa Universalis game. 

Europa Universalis 4 is almost 12 years old, and a litany of DLCs has made the game extremely dense, so hopefully, EU5 will build on all of that. The first thing to talk about Europa Universalis 5 is that it is wildly different from Europa Universalis 4. It has a plethora of new systems as well as reimaginations of the old ones. The game overall feels very fresh and not just a rehash of Europa Universalis 4. 

Now, when I said there are a lot of systems, I mean there are a lot. And while CK3 leaned more toward simplicity, EU5 seems to be taking a different course, offering a far more complex take on the Grand Strategy Empire Building.

Of the many standout additions and changes, the removal of the administrative, diplomatic, and military mana within the game seems to be a clear step in the direction of complexity as well as making the game more real. Instead, you now rely on the people you recruit to commit to actions and ensure they succeed.

Bridging a bit towards Victoria 3, you now have to fabricate claims by actually justifying them through espionage or securing support. You now have a lot of politics to deal with, and the estates system is expanded on. There also seems to be more of them. Nations are far more dynamic now, with four distinct types of country, from being army-based, extraterritorial, and Society of Population, to regular settled countries. 

There's really a lot going on in the game. You now have things like situations, which are large-scale events, with their UI and tooltips. While EU4 had something similar, EU5 seems to take things a step further. 

Naturally, the game remains unimaginably complex and almost an unforgiving experience, and we hope to see more of it in the future. However, if complexity is not your thing, Europa Universalis V offers a lot of automation, from the biggest systems to the smallest ones.

For a game of this caliber, there have already been some complaints and things that could use some work. The biggest of which remains the UI, which doesn't look all that bad—a bit dated perhaps. However, the UI really feels a bit clunky and requires way too many clicks to get something done.

Navigating it is annoying, which is sad considering EU4 has a very intuitive UI. Another minor beat is that there is no more mini-map, which is a shame. It really helped, both with the visuals and with navigation.

Europa Universalis V definitely is not trying to be everyone's gateway into grand strategy; it's seemingly more of a love letter to the hardcore fans. Paradox has not yet confirmed a release date, but chances are, we will learn more soon and potentially get the game around late 2025 or early 2026.