Europa Universalis V

Players report levies vanishing on load, situations and events that never fire or end early, subjects that can't be integrated, crashes when loading saves, and colonies that stop receiving migrants. Bugs, crashes or game-breaking problems come up in 27% of the longer reviews, and more often in reviews from players past 200 hours. Long campaigns take the worst damage: "both of my recent Ironman saves were ruined by a rebellion-related bug that completely broke my campaigns." Bugs also make the game's own logic hard to read: "When something bad happens in the game its really difficult to tell if its because you have done the wrong thing or if the game is just bugged."

About 20% of the longer reviews talk about balance or patch churn, again more often among players past 200 hours. The complaint is about how much each patch changes: army sizes, economy values, AI aggression and expansion rules swung back and forth between versions. One player wrote that "almost every patch you must restart your game because the previous game is unplayable". Patch 1.2, which reviewers date to May 2026, drew the angriest reviews, including the complaint that "one province minors in 1400 can raise 150k mercs and wipe the floor with you." Several players also object to nerfs aimed at popular strategies, which they say remove fun instead of adding challenge.

The AI and ahistorical outcomes come up in 19% of the longer reviews, and most sampled matches were complaints, though a few said the AI gets smarter with each patch. Players describe an AI that swings between extremes: "In one patch the AI is so aggressive and declares non stop NO casus belli wars on everything and in the next the AI is very idle and does nothing." The map outcomes repeat across campaigns: France and Bohemia dominate, "the mongol yoke is never broken and the Ottomans never rise to power", and Russia, Prussia or Great Britain rarely form. Another player wrote that the "AI in this game is the definition of "Nothing ever happens" unfortunatly, the map doesn't change all that much." Allies that never help in wars are a smaller, recurring complaint.

"There are tons of buttons, but what distinguishes them are the tiny, blurry icons inside." The UI, menus or tooltips come up in 17% of the longer reviews, mostly as complaints, though a few reviewers praise the interface. Players under 10 hours raise it more often than others. They describe small icons, nested tooltips, too many clicks, and key information hidden in submenus, and they cite battle results and building upkeep as hard to read. One positive reviewer found it gets easier ("The UI is hard to get around at first but becomes manageable."), but few defend it.

Missing flavor, generic nations or the lack of mission trees come up in 17% of the longer reviews; mission trees alone are named in 8%. Players say a small HRE state and a large empire play much the same, with flavor concentrated in a few major nations: "Outside of a couple of major powers, most nations feel completely flavorless." Without EU4's missions, some feel they lack direction: "There are no Mission Trees or Splendor Objectives so you don't really have any structured goals like in EU4." Several expect the gap to be filled by paid DLC, which feeds the pricing complaints below.

Boredom, tedium, cooldowns or the 1337 start date come up in 13% of the longer reviews. Players describe long stretches of waiting for timers, slow coring and a quiet map: "game play is like watching grass grow." The early start draws its own complaint: "The much earlier start date means you are looking at 10-20 hours of play just to reach Colonisation and the Reformation". Some players enjoy the slow burn, and one notes that the game turns fast once the economy starts to scale.

Performance, lag, freezes or tick speed come up in 13% of the longer reviews. Players describe a stutter at each monthly tick that grows worse over time, even on strong PCs: "every first of the month I freeze for a few seconds and it gets worse the longer the game goes on." Several say the 1500s and 1600s slow to a crawl at top speed. Some players report that patches fixed FPS problems, and several say the early game runs fine.

Paid DLC, pricing, sales or refunds come up in 10.7% of the longer reviews. The worry is that missing content will be sold back later, and that the first paid DLC, which reviewers name as Fate of the Phoenix and describe as centered on Byzantium, arrived while the base game was still rough: "Already releasing DLC when the game is still in a rough shape is a slap in the face". Several premium edition buyers say they felt burned, and several reviews, positive ones included, suggest waiting for a sale or for more patches.

Colonization comes up in 7.3% of the longer reviews, mostly as a complaint. Players say colonies cost more than they return ("Colonization is a total bust and not usually worth it."), that colonial charters could be spammed in early versions, and that pre-contact Americas suffered from a tools shortage that crippled their economies. The long road to the age of exploration, a result of the early start date, adds to it.

Ironman and achievements come up in 3.7% of the longer reviews. Players disliked that achievements required Ironman while bugs could ruin an Ironman run. One reviewer switched to positive on hearing the restriction would be lifted: "They are removing the achievement restrictions for the next patch".