With its intriguing blend of tranquil exploration and tough, bullet hell boss fights, ITTA is a unique experience and a damn good game.
Get on Steam"ITTA is a single-player Fantasy Shooter game with an intriguing story, masterful gameplay, visuals, and ingenious music. As Itta, players face harrowing battles against 18 powerful bosses in a bullet-hell world, seeking answers after awakening to her dead family. Customize your combat style and enable accessibility features for a challenging yet manageable experience."
Nintendo Switch
PC
Windows
Reviews
- ITTA features stunning pixel art and a beautiful aesthetic that enhances the overall experience.
- The game offers challenging and engaging boss fights that require skill and strategy, making victories feel rewarding.
- The blend of exploration and bullet hell mechanics provides a unique gameplay experience that appeals to fans of both genres.
- The game is relatively short, with many players completing it in just a few hours, leading to concerns about replayability.
- Some boss fights can feel repetitive, and the difficulty curve may be inconsistent, making certain encounters feel easier than expected.
- The soundtrack has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it lacking or not fitting the game's atmosphere.
- story130 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally described as decent, engaging, and occasionally haunting, with a focus on themes of death and spirits. While some players found the narrative compelling and well-integrated with the gameplay, others felt it was brief and could have benefited from deeper world-building and character development. Overall, the storytelling is praised for its presentation and atmosphere, though some players wished for more content and exploration within the narrative.
“The story is engaging from start to finish and leaves some room for interpretation.”
“Not only the story, the controls, combat, and art style are amazing but more than anything the impressively deep world building ties everything together.”
“The story was beautiful and engaging even if it was brief.”
“The story is nothing special, and neither is the map: 2 or 3 hours, and you'll have seen everything the game has to offer.”
“It's a little short unfortunately, and I feel that's important because I think the story and characters would've had a bit more impact had we spent more time in this world to become more connected to it.”
“Overall the story could use some more love, but it's still cool and fun enough to hold the game together.”
- gameplay87 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay in Itta is characterized by its engaging bullet-hell mechanics and boss-rush format, offering a mix of intense combat and exploration. While the controls are tight and the visuals are stunning, many players noted a lack of unique mechanics and repetitive patterns among bosses, which can lead to a sense of monotony. Overall, the game is enjoyable but may not reach its full potential due to these limitations.
“The gameplay mixes the dense tension of super tight boss fights with some melancholically relaxing exploration and puzzling.”
“Good gameplay, dodging bullets while shooting (or throwing a scythe) is very fun, bosses are unique and show personality.”
“Absolutely gorgeous visuals and beautiful, calming music contrasted by gameplay that isn't afraid to crank the crazy up to 11 at a moment's notice.”
“While they all look unique, there are a lot of recycled mechanics and bullet patterns and they are mostly fought in the exact same way.”
“Gameplay mechanic = too boring (every boss fight = all comes down to running around the edge of the arena around the boss and shooting him) it's fun?”
“The gameplay itself is good, but not exceptional in any way.”
- music73 mentions
- 52 % positive mentions
- 40 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising the overworld tracks as beautiful and atmospheric, while the boss music is often criticized for being lackluster or jarring. Some players find the soundtrack enhances the overall experience, creating a captivating atmosphere, while others feel it detracts from the gameplay, particularly during intense moments. Overall, the music is seen as a strong point for some, but a significant flaw for others, highlighting a divide in player experience.
“The music sets the tone wonderfully, and the story is given to you in little bits - even after deaths, which really helps to ease the frustration that can come with losing to a boss mere moments from victory.”
“Not only are the visuals absolutely outstanding, the music for every area of the game, every boss, every bit of scenery, it is wonderful and a blessing to listen to time and time again.”
“Absolutely gorgeous visuals and beautiful, calming music contrasted by gameplay that isn't afraid to crank the crazy up to 11 at a moment's notice.”
“The music really is annoying; in the boss fights, it doesn't feel like a soundtrack. It feels like fighting noise, some kind of effect, without depth. It feels like it belongs in a cheaper kind of game, not matching the visuals while traveling around.”
“I was not prepared for how bad the music was.”
“The soundtrack is a bit lacking.”
- graphics51 mentions
- 73 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning pixel art and unique art style, which combine to create a visually captivating experience. Reviewers highlight the beautiful, serene visuals and the effective use of color, alongside a well-complemented soundtrack that enhances the overall atmosphere. The game's aesthetic, characterized by vintage visuals and intricate environmental design, is noted as a significant strength, contributing to an engaging and immersive gameplay experience.
“The game is beautiful, the visuals border on serene and horror-inducing (in a good way) and the design of a majority of the bosses is really good.”
“Not only are the visuals absolutely outstanding, the music for every area of the game, every boss, every bit of scenery, it is wonderful and a blessing to listen to time and time again.”
“Absolutely gorgeous visuals and beautiful, calming music contrasted by gameplay that isn't afraid to crank the crazy up to 11 at a moment's notice.”
“If this game had the exact same setting, story, visuals, etc. but with the combat feel and boss mechanics/patterns of Enter the Gungeon, it would be a 10/10.”
“A game reminiscent of Titan Souls because of its chilled exploration, (better than Titan Souls), suited to a cute stylish graphic with relaxing colors, matched to challenging boss fights in bullet hell style.”
“All in all, itta is a recommended indie game with pleasing visuals and tough bosses offering satisfying finishers.”
- atmosphere14 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 36 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of Itta is described as a unique blend of fairytale-like elements and a haunting, end-of-the-world vibe, creating a deeply engaging and melancholic experience. Players appreciate the combination of art and music that enhances this mood, with a consistent sense of mourning and strangeness throughout the game. Overall, the atmosphere is praised for its ability to evoke strong emotions and provide a captivating backdrop for the gameplay.
“I found the world to be quite engaging and the game has this depressing end-of-the-world atmosphere that I love, so that was a nice surprise.”
“The art and music combine to create a really cool atmosphere.”
“The hub world’s atmosphere is strange and depressing, and I love it.”
“Deaths are a constant of the story; there's a sort of 'mourning' atmosphere throughout the game.”
“Itta has a different atmosphere, less futuristic and more fairytale-like, but if you played HLD before, you're going to have a lot of déjà-vu moments.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 13 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it endlessly replayable due to its challenging yet accessible nature, many others criticize it for being too short and lacking content, leading to little incentive for multiple playthroughs. There is a strong desire among users for additional content to enhance replay value in the future.
“It's challenging while remaining accessible and is, to me, replayable to no end!”
“Once you finish your one/two/three runs, there is no replayability.”
“A bit short and no replay value at the moment; hope it gets much more content with time.”
“The game's too short, and there's no replayability like in a more arcade-like experience.”
- emotional2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by its adorable and mystical elements, combined with a deeply heartbreaking narrative that resonates with players.
“Adorable, mystical, and heartbreaking.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Players have noted that the grinding aspect of the game is marred by glitchy sound effects, particularly during boss encounters, where persistent grinding noises can detract from the overall experience.
“The sound effects were very glitchy at times, especially when bosses started spinning and hit a wall; it created a grinding noise that lingered for a while.”
“The repetitive nature of grinding made the gameplay feel tedious and unengaging.”
“Grinding for resources felt like a chore rather than an enjoyable part of the game.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Overall, the game exhibits a stable performance with only a few minor glitches and polish issues noted by users. Despite some inconsistencies in NPC expressions, players still find the experience enjoyable and recommend it.
“A few minor glitches and polish issues, but overall, a great run and definitely a recommended experience.”
“A few minor glitches and polish issues, but overall, a great run and definitely a recommended experience.”
Critic Reviews
ITTA Review
ITTA’s not a game-changing masterpiece, but it has tight design and wonderfully crafted aesthetics in a world of hope, despair, and bullet-hell.
80%ITTA [Nintendo Switch] | REVIEW
ITTA’s unique blend of the boss-rush formula and action-packed schmup gameplay makes for a really enjoyable experience, though a lack of depth stops it from striving towards greatness. I found that a lot of the boss battles just started to feel a bit too samey in design over time, whilst the fact that I spent the majority of my time just using the shotgun shows that the weapon variation wasn’t necessarily up to much either. That’s not to say that I didn’t have a really good time with the game though and I had a ton of satisfyingly challenging fun seeing the intriguing tale through to its conclusion. I just wish there could have been a little bit more variety on offer across each showdown with the game’s epic foes.
80%ITTA (Switch) Review
Itta be a shame to let this boss rush pass you by.
75%
