Calamity Angels: Special Delivery Review

Have you ever wanted to deliver the mail in an anime-styled fantasy world with a bunch of horrible coworkers who never do as they’re asked? Well, I’m not sure why you’re looking for that, but I have the game for you: developer Compile Heart’s turn-based RPG, Calamity Angels: Special Delivery. The premise is mostly used for game mechanics and jokes over a relatively by-the-numbers plotline, but that’s okay.

Calamity Angels puts you in the shoes of Yuri, a young courier with the Delivery Guild whose first job is managing the infamous delivery team, the Cutie Angels (also known as the lazy, worthless “Calamity Angels” by their guildmates). In truth, they were scammed into the role by their childhood friend, Suliya, who pushed them to join the guild as a team leader, knowing that the Angels were in dire need of a new head honcho. Whatever the case, it’s now up to Yuri to wrangle a variety of unique and wacky personalities together into a cohesive team and rise in the ranks of the guild.

Yuri and the main trio she has to deal with bounce off of each other well in the plot’s comedic moments and side quests, even if Yuri themself doesn’t have much of a personality outside of “optimistic protagonist” and “comedic straight man”. The other three each have their own quirks, like Somnia, a skilled swordswoman who is pretty much asleep all the time, even going so far as to wear a sleeping mask in place of an eyepatch. Next is Suliya, a healing mage with a penchant for treasure and no qualms about dropping everything at the barest hint of gold. Rounding out the group is Ivris, a powerful mage constantly looking for a fight who would rather let her fists do the talking.

One of Calamity Angels’ biggest strengths is the strong visual design that quickly gives the player an idea of who each character is, from this main comedic trio to all the other cast members. Suliya’s eyes sparkle with greed at all hours, and her magic staff doubles as an abacus; Somnia’s outfit looks like the cosiest bedding-themed sleepwear around and she’s got a pillow to boot; and Ivris is covered in bandages to go with her oversized gauntlet to show she means business. With strong use of expressions, outfits, and poses, it’s not hard to see what someone’s deal is at a glance, even with less important characters.

However, following through on those strong designs with characterisation to match is not exactly Calamity Angels’ strong suit. For example, a few other characters join the Cutie Angels in short order, each with their own oddities. Yet, while they look great, they only appear in the storyline to throw out one of the phrases associated with their main quirk and then fall into the background; Suliya, Ivris, and Somnia can be boiled down to their basic conceits too, but because they’re given a lot more screentime, they’re allowed to have a little more depth that makes them actually lovable. Other characters outside of the Cutie Angels aren’t exempt from this either, with many of the other guild members just being there to act superior, blunt, and dismissive, if they act like anything at all.

Additionally, while the main idea of “do your best to make deliveries while your ragtag group of weirdos ruin everything they touch” sounds hilarious in concept, the actual plot doesn’t do anything with it. The Cutie Angels’ whack-a-doodle antics are limited to asides and non sequiturs that only make them look unprofessional, not screw-ups; the characters keep saying the Cutie Angels are famous for ruining the situation and being terrible at deliveries, but all of that seems firmly in the past. Everyone cares about doing a good job, and they don’t actually let their other desires get in the way, despite a lot of talk implying otherwise. The problems that do crop up are usually just bandits or strange creatures, and the first time the Cutie Angels’ behaviour gets in the way of their job, it’s just a matter of them getting distracted by a tough fight while someone steals a relic.

Thankfully, Calamity Angels’ fun premise comes back in full force in the turn-based battles; the main gimmick that sets this game apart is that the party members love to refuse to do anything they don’t want to do. For example, if you were to ask Ivris to cast a spell, she might ignore you and start punching the enemy in the face instead, often dealing more damage than if you’d just asked her to start punching. Alternatively, when you tell her to cast a spell, she may decide that standing there doing nothing is more worth her time.

As the battle goes on and a character’s Tension stat rises, they may become more obedient, but there’s nearly always an entertaining dance going on where you have to decide if you’ll stick to orders the party will obey or risk trying for better tactical options in the hope that you’ll either get them to do what you want or at least do what they want more effectively. Outside of this, combat can be boring, but once fights actually become challenging, this struggle to make the cast do as they’re told shines.

In addition, Calamity Angels also boasts special techniques your party will pull out under secret conditions; unique abilities that either change something about the battle or deliver a flashy attack with charming animation that deals overwhelming damage across the playing field. Many of these just seem to pop out at random, with some even going off as soon as the battle starts for a quick finish. I think I’ve figured out a few of Ivris’, like how using her martial arts abilities a lot makes her more likely to enter an adorable “Beast Mode” where she becomes happy to use any of her skills or how being taken down to low health unlocks a few powerful attacks, but I can’t be sure.

The most entertaining of these is when Suliya smells treasure and abandons the fight, leaving behind a doll that looks somewhat like her; if you can keep the battle going until she comes back in a few turns, she’ll rejoin the battle with a high-value reward waiting after all the enemies are gone. This happened to me a few times, which did make me feel very silly for saving up lots of money for the shops after I realised I could suddenly buy everything I wanted several times over, but who wants to look a gift healing mage in the abacus?

Of course, getting into fights is only part of a courier’s job, with the lion’s share being taken up by delivering whatever random bits and bobs people want. To do this, you have to manage your inventory space to make sure you can hold the package and then make your way across the land board-game style, with the ability to move a random number of spaces around until you reach your goal within a set number of allotted turns. There are plenty of diversions along the way, from fights to spaces that adjust your stats or give you extra loot, but nothing that feels particularly monumental or special to the locations after your first couple of outings.

That’s a bit of a recurring theme with Calamity Angels: Special Delivery — the game is bright and inviting, with peppy, adventurous music, great character designs, and a killer concept, but there’s not a lot of follow-through. I very much want to like this one, especially as there’s clearly a lot of passion here; the character side stories do a good job of delving into what makes these weirdos tick, the animations are consistently hilarious, and even the character, move, and item descriptions are all unique, funny, and creatively worded. However, there’s very little here with much staying power. Much like the jerks putting the Cutie Angels down like to say, Calamity Angels is little more than half-baked.