Europa Universalis V

Governing the world is no easy task. In Paradox's fifth title in the Europa Universalis saga, this responsibility is left to you. You get the chance to choose a country and follow along on a journey from the 14th century to the period of the great revolutions in 19th century Europe. There are hundreds of countries to choose from all over the world. The hardest part of the game is actually finding a nation to start with. To help you, there is a list of recommended countries that explore one of three game styles. If you want to try an expansionist nation, Castile is your choice, if you want to try diplomacy, maybe Norway is your country, if that doesn't work, maybe the trade-focused Netherlands is an alternative.

The choice of nation is quite important, as some countries are directly in a variant of a crusade, fighting for their survival, are about to lose their leader and risk civil war or about to end up in a major international conflict. I learned that lesson after choosing England, which pretty soon ends up in the Hundred Years' War with France. You can of course avoid this as you don't have to take the historical route. Another example is the Teutonic Knights, who are at war with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania right at the start of the title. I didn't find any options to adjust the start date, so you'll have to think a bit depending on how experienced you are with these games.

If there's one thing Paradox are good at, it's creating vibrant, dynamic worlds in a strategy format. There's always something to do, and you really have to choose wisely how you spend your resources. Europa Universalis V is not an easy game. It's possible to get a quick overview, but to really master the game you need to delve deep into a multitude of gameplay systems, which in turn rely on other systems and interact continuously. It's a complex machinery that drives the game world forward to its final destination. The most important aspects to keep an eye on are diplomacy, research, military, economy and exploration.

Diplomacy is one of my favorite tools in the game. You don't have an infinite number of diplomats and it costs money to generate more. It is your choice which countries you will increase relations with, which ones you want to spy on and thus create different forms of Casus Belli. Who you will trade with and how you will navigate the world. These are questions you will grapple with during the course of the campaign. You also have to take into account powerful organizations that can create conflicts with you or otherwise influence you. An example of this is the Catholic Church or the Holy Roman Empire, which allows member countries to vote on crusades, wars, laws and much more.

Organizations can be powerful and you need to take these into account as they can encompass many states and directly affect you. You can of course leave these if you want, but some come with costs such as instability and war. Depending on the country you choose, they look a little different and have different purposes. If you choose to play as a nation in Asia, Africa or the Americas, they will have different organizations than the ones you initially encounter in Europe. You can also found your own variants that enact laws on mutual defense.

There are three important factors when talking to another state. Trust, relations and services. The first two are controlled by choices on the campaign map, decisions, which rivals you have, technology, culture, religion and much more. The latter is more dependent on you using diplomats to generate reciprocal services. With these you can then get states to do things that benefit you or an ally. The system is flexible and will to some extent be recognizable from the fourth Europa Universalis. I like that it is quite easy to see what affects the numbers. You have lots of options such as creating alliances, unions, blockades, asking for settlers from another country and much more. The list of what you can do with this system is extensive.

Unfortunately, the pen is not always mightier than the sword and sometimes you still need the sword. You initially have your forces that you call to fight for the king. They are untrained and represent the medieval way of war. Armored, well-trained standing armies are expensive and not as cost-effective. Over the course of the game's time frame, this will of course change and your forces will be replaced with more professional alternatives and more mercenaries. Your troops and ships can of course be led by generals and each army is divided into regiments. You can adjust this a bit to get better results in battles. They can also perform specific tasks. Boats can supply troops with food, transport soldiers and block ports. Troops on land can burn the ground, besiege and conquer areas. They can also set up camps and other things that are favorable to your advance.

Just as you are used to, you do not win a war by taking over a city or defeating an enemy force. Rather, you win by fulfilling the goals you set for the war. This is a casus belli, which you create thanks to spies or with the help of your estates in the administration view. The system is similar to previous titles in the series. It works great because it does not give you total control at once. It forces you to use several game systems to achieve your goals. If you do not use a casus belli, you will be punished diplomatically and risk the wrath of neighboring countries. Diplomacy can give you powerful reasons to start a war, a strong military allows you to win the war and a good economy allows you to continue the wars and pay your forces.

Your country's economy is one of the cornerstones of not losing the game. You are not a person like in Crusader Kings, but you play as a country. One of the big new features this time is a more robust trade system with markets that shift dynamically depending on where goods are sold and bought. Centuries of changes on the campaign map can shift multiple factors such as technology, and a smart leader lets his nation control world trade. There is also the possibility of creating customs systems and the like. I immediately recognized parts of my playstyle from Victoria III. Even though Paradox has not built such a deep economic simulation, it is still impressive.

If you can ignore the fact that certain goods are sometimes conjured into existence, it is a complex and deep system. Resources are extracted, used by your inhabitants to produce goods via buildings and then these are sold at markets. You can manage both exports and imports and meet the needs of your inhabitants in detail. You have a fairly large freedom to set up your own markets, block others and indirectly influence third-party countries or control the supply of goods. You can use the trade system as a powerful tool in your quest to become a dominant superpower, as industrialization approaches this becomes even more noticeable.

New features in all areas traditionally offered by the series have meant that I have had to relearn a lot. It could be aspects of warfare such as troops permanently dying. Or how you have to balance the demands of the estates, the joys and their privileges. Another example is the ability of advisors to the king to carry out specific and powerful missions. Another interesting change is the focus on control. This number determines how much value you get out of each area. A higher area means more money. With the help of roads, advisors and technology, you can increase the value. And I haven't even mentioned the weather system, that soldiers can die if they stand on ice when the snow melts in the spring, the mission system that works like a secondary technology tree not entirely unlike the system in Imperator: Rome. Or the massive new technology tree divided over time periods and adapted to your state.

Although the computer this time is not the smartest opponent I've faced in a strategy game, it's good enough for me. It makes mistakes with troops in war, diplomacy and other ways sometimes. A good example is that it does not always use topography or the hours of the day in a good way. This allows the player to win even impossible battles. If you have a little difficulty accepting less than perfect computer opponents, this may be a minus for you. However, it is of course possible to increase the difficulty level and play in Iron Man mode. The increased difficulty levels work as they always do in strategy games. The computer gets more resources and you get less, it will not navigate the terrain better or make better decisions.

Despite some problems, I really like Europa Universalis V and its extensive amount of interacting systems. They create a complex and difficult experience, which you can't really get anywhere else. Your campaign as the kingdom of Castile or Aragon may not lead to a Spain but a different city-state. Germany may never be formed and England will take over France. The possibilities are enormous to have a non-historical experience, but you can also set the computer to play historically. There are also hidden countries that can be created through rebellions and civil wars. The only option I really miss is being able to change the start date.

I like the opportunities to experiment with situations you've always wondered about and what could have happened if history had taken a different direction. One of the most important events in Europe occurs with the discovery of North and South America and the start of the industrial revolution. All of this is for you to interact with. However, you don't have to colonize half the world or conquer it. The game ends when you want it to end and you rule your country, no one else. Although the campaign has an end year, you can still play if you want, even if you remain stuck in 19th century technologies. If you want the subsequent experience, you can try Victoria III, with its ambitious economic simulation.

I played several campaigns as several countries. I also tried some odd starting nations on other continents. It is quite clear that many of these are not quite fully developed yet in terms of content. The focus is on the European great powers. However, it is entirely possible to have entertaining campaigns with smaller state formations. One of my favorite countries to start with was the Golden Horde. The tricky thing about this faction is that it is about to collapse if you are not skilled. Another fun option to try is the Teutonic Knights. They are at full war with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and if you play your cards wrong, you can lose the campaign pretty quickly. I also liked the Byzantine Empire. If you want them to have their historical name, you can change it in the settings. Their starting position at this time is difficult to handle. Japan and China are also interesting to test during this time period. Japan is relatively peaceful and calm at the starting point of the campaign.

My suggestion is to let the game guide you at the beginning. Choose one of the recommended countries and follow along in the training mode, which unfortunately, just like its predecessors, is a bit rough. Paradox still chooses to guide you in how to control with the mouse and keyboard and then explain what the systems are. However, you don't get any help with how to do things in the game. This is something I often react to when playing strategy games. The built-in encyclopedia is extensive, but it doesn't explain how to do the things the game tells you about. How do you settle a province or how do you get another state to send settlers to you. Some things are easier to figure out than others, but I think they need to add this to the game's encyclopedia.

However, I think the user interface is good and the ability to pin things you think are important to the right side makes it easier. It is also rare for something to be hidden in submenus, which Paradox has improved on with the newer titles. This and the tabs at the top of the screen with important information are great. Much of this was already in the fourth and the functionality is great in the fifth as well. The number of map modes has increased and you now have more filters to use. In some menus, the associated filters are turned on automatically, which helps to get a better overall picture of what you want to see. This can be, for example, markets, topography, values ​​in 3D or enemies and allies. The game also contains aspects such as migrations and migrations, and the map filter system can help to highlight this.

On the technical side, the game flows a little unevenly. It is quite demanding and does not always flow perfectly. This is especially noticeable when you run it at higher settings. The game does not always keep up due to all the calculations and other things in the background. I experienced some lag. It can feel a little sluggish when a lot is happening in the world, however, this is not an action game and it does not have as much impact on the gameplay. Another aspect that does not affect the title that much is the music. It is just like in the fourth one, really good, until you hear it a little too often and turn on your own soundtrack. However, the world is nicely rendered and I like all the details on the map when you zoom in. It is mainly the variation in the appearance of cities and the appearance of the squads that is my criticism of the visuals. If I know Paradox right, this is something that we will have to pay for after launch.

The question you who have read this far are asking yourself is whether this is worth your time. My answer is undoubtedly yes, if you like grand strategy games. Aside from small performance problems, you are offered a beautiful recreation of our world in the year 1337 and onwards. Europa Universalis offers you a living, dynamic and complex world. Unlike Hearts of Iron IV, for example, there is very little downtime, you always have something to do in this game. You never sit around waiting for the big war, but you are doing things all the time. Whether you are building roads, spy networks, equipping your fleet, creating markets, importing goods or building cathedrals in cities. Between turns you are fed by events both historical and situational. All this and much more means that you always have something to interact with. I often increase the speed in these titles, but in the fifth I have had to lower the speed for that reason.

I think the core of Europa Universalis V is terribly impressive. Europa Universalis has never been this complex, easy to play and offered the possibility to automate parts of the game you do not want to deal with. The latter feature lacks some configurable options for the computer, which controls what you have automated. Despite small performance problems, a lack of settings in the campaign mode and a computer opponent who does not always impress, this is without a doubt my favourite in the series. There are countless gameplay systems and things I haven't had time to give my opinion on in this review. The whole experience is really good though and I look forward to the continuation with updates and expansions. This is a little deeper, a little more complex and offers you powerful tools you can use to navigate, influence and change the course of history. If you liked the predecessor or are curious about the fifth iteration, I can highly recommend this to you.