Overview – developed by Compile Heart and Idea Factory, with publishing handled by Idea Factory International, Calamity Angels: Special Delivery is a delivery service RPG with a board game twist. As Yuri, command the Cutie Angels, a delivery team that travel perilous lands to make sure packages get there on time. This title is available for PlayStation, Steam and Nintendo Switch platforms, with a link to each version of the game at the bottom of this review.
Disclaimer: before I get into the review, I would like to thank Idea Factory International for providing the copy of Calamity Angels: Special Delivery used for this piece, via the Keymailer service. The provision of this software has not influenced the contents of this review, all thoughts and opinions contained within are my own.
Now with the introductions out of the way, let’s get into the review, starting with the story (taken from the official website). I will be covering the core gameplay mechanics of the game, making sure to keep any of the surprises and secrets from being spoiled. I will be referring to the game as simply Calamity Angels for the sake of brevity.
Story – Delivery: a job that carries packages and emotions alike from one person to another. In world where ferocious monsters roam just outside the city walls, Yuri has just passed the guild leader’s exam. Their first assignment? Leading the infamous rookie team, The Calamity Angels. With a crew of quirky, free-spirited teammates, they set out each day to deliver everyone’s hopes and wishes. Their goal is to become the number one delivery team!
Gameplay – Calamity Angels is an RPG where the player takes the role of Yuri, a newly qualified Delivery Leader as part of the Delivery Guild. At the start of the game, the player gets to select their preferred look for Yuri, with the male Type A and female Type B. This choice has no real impact on the experience, with dialogue and interactions playing out the same. The only difference between the two is the appearance and voice used.
As Yuri, the player will lead a team of delivery personnel called the Cutie Angels, but they have the nickname of Calamity Angels. The narrative for this adventure takes place across episodes, where the Cutie Angels deliver packages around the region. At the start of the game, the Delivery team will have four members, consisting of Yuri the leader and the combat team of Ivris, Somnia and Suliya. The team is supported by Poten, the Post Fairy imbued with Omoi power.
From the guild, the player will be able to select a delivery, with a rating that is applied to them that signals the difficulty. The lowest rank is F, going up to E, D, C and further. Each delivery request has requirements applied to them, with the delivery destination, a deadline and rewards for completion. Once the delivery has been accepted from the request board, the player will be able to depart from the Delivery Guild, setting off to deliver their package.
On the world map, the delivery locations will appear, with the list starting off small and expanding as the player progresses through the adventure. There is also the shop, where weapons, armor and accessories can be purchased for the team. Weaponry will be available for all of the delivery team, with unique items for each, whereas armor and support items are for everyone. The selection will increase as the team’s overall deliver rank increases.
During each of the deliveries, the Cutie Angels must navigate the lands surrounding the city and guild, which are perilous to those who leave its walls. After leaving the guild, the world map will show up, showing the areas that can be explored. The location for the delivery will have a package icon attached to them, showing the delivery destination. When the player has selected the delivery destination, the unique elements of the adventure come into play.
As the player embarks on the delivery itself, the player must travel an overworld map in a Board Game style of progress. When the delivery starts off, the player has a set number of Omoi power, which is listed as Willpower on the map, along with the distance to the destination. Before each turn starts, the player will spin a compass wheel, which will determine the number of squares to move. This wheel is numbered from 1 to 6.
Once the compass has been spun, the player will be able to able to move the number of squares up to the result. When the player stops, the event of the square will play out. There are several types of square that can be landed on, with positive and negative random effects. These can include taking damage, restoring lost health and picking up special items. Then there are spaces that will give players bonuses to attacks and critical rate, but some will do the opposite.
Then there are the battle spaces, which will have the player engage in combat with the monsters that prowl the land. In battle, Yuri and three of the delivery team will enter battle. The battles play out in turn based combat, where the player and enemies will make their moves based on their speed. If the combat members of the party have a higher speed, they will be able to act first, but the last character to make a move each turn will always be Yuri.
The combat Party will consist of different classes, like Support/Healer, Fighter and Mage, which are the first members of the team. As the player progresses through the adventure, more members will join the team, bringing their own unique skills and classes to the table. During a turn, the player will be able to use a range of skills for combat members, including Melee attacks, Magic strikes, unique character abilities and defensive skills to prevent damage.
All party members have their own unique personalities, which can affect their behaviour in battle. Characters will have preferences for how they want to act, Like Somnia preferring to sleep rather than fight and Ivris wanting to punch things instead of use magic. Depending on the choices made, the mood of the characters will change, increasing or lowering their tension. The portrait image of the character will show how they will likely react to commands.
In a battle, the higher the tension, the happier the party member will be. If the player selects a command that the party member likes, their expression will reflect this and they will be highly likely to increase their tension. However, if the player selects an action or skill that lowers the tension, the party member may completely ignore the command and decide for themself. But if the player is very unlucky, they may just refuse to do anything at all, passing their turn.
There are basic skills that each party member will have that have extremely low costs, making them useful to employ at any time. Then we have the skills that use SP, which are special skill points, with each character having a set amount of SP for these special abilities. Some of the skills have special requirements, like Suliya the healer using Money to cast spells, which is tied to her personality. Some SP will be recovered at the end of each turn.
During a battle, there is the chance that special ultimate powers could be used. These powerful skills and powers have hidden requirement, which will make them accessible when they are met. There are ultimate skills that will activate automatically, with no control from the player. When either skill is active, a cinematic will play out and more often than not, they will be attacks on enemies. But there are some skills that will have unique effects that impact battles.
The enemies that players encounter will have unique weaknesses, which will affect the amount of damage that they will take. These different effects can appear on the name icon for the enemies, allowing players to check what will be most effective. However, when the enemies first appear, the weakness will not show up. All of the details on enemy weaknesses to can be viewed in the Monster Encyclopedia, alongside threat level, attacks and where they appear.
Once all combat participants have made their moves, the player will be able to act. Yuri will be able to pass onto the next turn, use special items from the bag, with recover and effect items that can be used. Some effects include poisoning and burning, which will cause damage at the end of each round, increasing harm on enemies. Finally, the player can attempt to retreat and escape, but if this fails, the player will be unable to try and escape the next turn.
Usually combat will end when the enemies have their health reduced to zero. However, there are special creatures called the Omoikurai, a race of monster that is drawn to Omoi energy. These creatures are deadly and must be weakened by the party first, attacking them to reduce their energy to zero. When all of the creatures are knocked down, Yuri will be able to engage her Relic Weapon, slamming it on the OmoiKurai and defeating them for good.
When a battle is completed, the player will receive rewards for defeating the enemies. These consist of Kit, the money of the world, special items and experience points. The most important reward from battles is Omoi Power, which will extend the number of turns that players have to make the delivery. Be careful when it comes to items received in battle, as there are limited slots in the delivery bag, so not all items can be collected.
If the player fails the battle, they will be given two choices, to try again or retreat from the battle. If the player chooses to try again, they will be able to give the battle another shot without penalty. But if the player instead decides that they want to escape the battle, they will lose some of their Omoi power and be at a disadvantage. This makes the choice to retreat a strategic one, as players must decide if they want to risk the delivery being late to get out of fighting.
Throughout the delivery routes, there will be special spaces that players can visit, like the shop or treasure spots. These options will give the player a chance to collect rare items, while buying and selling what they have on them. Another special space that can be visited is the post box, where players can collect packages and return them to the Guild for a bonus. But just like the items, if there aren’t enough slots in the bag, they cannot be collected.
Once the delivery is completed, the player will be able to go back to the guild to collect payment. There will be the standard reward for just clearing the mission, but if the player has Omoi power remaining, a special bonus will be provided to them. The bonuses for collected packages from post boxes will also be awarded here. If the player doesn’t want to go back to the guild, or wishes to collect more items, they can explore the routes freely between deliveries.
If the player is able to accomplish specific criteria, they will be able to rank up their overall delivery grade. The criteria to achieve this includes completing specific delivery requests, achieving a set number of experience points and the total number of deliveries reaching a set target. When the party increases the rank, they will become stronger, unlocking new skills to use in battle as well as improving their general stats and capabilities.
The last element of the game to discuss is the team menu, which can be accessed in the guild and on delivery routes. Here the player can change the active party members, selecting from those who have joined the team. This can be done on the fly, allowing injured characters to tag out for those who are fresh, which is useful when low on support items. Equipment can also be modified in this menu, and skills can be viewed to check the options for battle.
Now with the gameplay covered, it is time to discuss the other aspects of this release, starting with the controls.
Controls – as this is a mix between board game and RPG styles, this game is very simple in terms of controls, allowing players to just pick it up and play. There is a lot of menu navigation that is needed, which is responsive and easy to get through, with inputs for features on screen. There is one slight hiccup with the inputs and that is during the map navigation, as they don’t always get picked up using the direction buttons. But this is a minor issue.
Difficulty – this title has a rather gradual difficulty curve, where the monsters and battles will scale with the progress of the player. The intensity of battle and the damage done by enemies, won’t overtake the player in most situations. But there are events where deadly enemies may appear, causing full party wipes and defeat, leading to a loss of power during deliveries. Thankfully, the game is rather generous with items and restoration, so defeat can be infrequent.
Presentation – Calamity Angels is gorgeous, with character designs and artwork from Kei Nanameda, the character designer behind Mary Skelter and Death end re;Quest. This gives the game a sense of familiarity, maintaining a distinct look to the cast of characters that is easily recognisable. The overworld, environments and event scenes are also gorgeous, with a great use of vibrant color and classic fantasy elements, adding to the charm of the experience.
The sound for the game is also fantastic, with music that fits each of the event scenes perfectly, with soft melodies and dramatic musical stings. Then there is the intro theme, accompanied by a fun opening animation to introduce the characters, as well as an ending theme that caps the experience off perfectly. There is English and Japanese voice acting available, with dubbing from Bang Zoom entertainment, who have dubbed Kill la Kill, One Punch man and Madoka Magica.
Final Thoughts – I love playing unique and different RPG titles, especially those from Japan as they will often go in unique directions. Calamity Angels was no different, with the weird, wacky and different approach to the usual RPG mechanics. I very much enjoyed the board game delivery, as well as the unpredictable battle mechanics, although this may frustrate some players. while it may appear clunky on the surface, after a short while, it all falls into place.
Then we have the story, which pulled me in and made me want to know what happens next, right to the end. It also has that fun quirk factor, with distinct and charming character personalities that are uniquely their own. My personal favourite is Somnia, the sleepy and adorable sword fighter, who made me laugh with how goofy she was. I am happy to recommend this game to everyone looking for a unique RPG experience, especially those who are into board games.
In the end, I give Calamity Angels: Special Delivery a final score of 4.75/5. This is a charming and fun RPG experience that has humor, drama and a unique gameplay system that makes it stand out, while it may not seem like it would work, the game really does deliver. If you want to check this title out for yourself, a link to each version will be below.
Link to Nintendo Switch version (HERE)
Link to PlayStation version (HERE)
Link to Steam version (HERE)
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