Chroma Quaternion Game Length

[LemmyTheLenny]

This was clearly one of Exe-Create's longer games and it honestly feels like this one in particular was one where they put in more effort. I was legit surprised to see that Curie played a bigger role here especially in the postgame story and was please to see that the postgame was their way of incorporating the Lv. 200+ areas better than just boring islands creating dungeons appropriate to each level area. I must confess that I did not beat the Curie storyline because i was just done with the game but I liked how leveling up roles gave you stats you needed. I however  did not like how you don't get silver and gold roles until at least 80% of the game is over leaving you with awful bronze roles. Having lapis be universal to all characters felt like it was just meaningless but it was not a problem given how specialized each character can be with their unique roles. Story as usual was the generic one with low stakes but I loved the interaction between character with jokes that made me laugh and how can you not find Foure adorable? This was one of the stories that did not have forced romance, "haha pedo" moments, and an overabundance of anime tropes and the characters are better for it.

In short, its the rare occurence of an Exe-Create game that does not feel like they're checking boxes off and also i want to hug and cuddle Foure why isnt he real i hate my life

[Victar]

Chroma Quaternion was a lot of fun to play and had a good story. This is the PS5 version, on Expert difficulty.

It took about 39 hours to earn the Normal Ending with the Shop dungeon cleared, the Arena cleared, and all available sidequests done. It took over 42 hours to reach the True Ending with all sidequests complete.

It took a whopping 55+ hours to finish the postgame optional boss gauntlet and complete the bestiary, all Awards, and most Playstation Trophies. Some Achievements/Trophies require walking a ridiculously high amount of steps, and I didn't bother with that. I assume the 22% of players who obtained these trophies used a rubber band or something to hold down the controller's directional cross overnight.

Even though the postgame Secret Arena makes maxing out the party's stats quick and easy, I didn't use it until just before the postgame ultimate superboss. For 95% of my playthrough, the main hero Ark was the strongest character and the only one who could deal significant damage, because nearly all stat boosters went to him. But Chroma Quaternion wasn't a one-man show! Ark needed the other characters to support him with buffs, debuffs, summons, heals, and bad status cures.

Expert difficulty was rough in the beginning. I had to use any buffing items or Act Destroyers I could get just to survive the first few boss fights. I think that Expert difficulty is balanced around exploiting the Shop and the Arena, especially in the early game. I needed to buy Shop keys to the Storehouses to get weapons that would inflict significant damage, and I needed the powerful defensive helms from the Arena shop to avoid getting one-shot.

I also needed to buy Act Destroyers and other consumables from the Arena to survive the early game. Then I spent Arena currency buying stat boosters for Ark. I didn't grind the Arena endlessly; instead, whenever I spent the Divine Beast meter in a boss fight, I'd autobattle easier Arena matches until the Divine Beast meter filled up and use the Guild Coins to buy stat boosters before progressing the story. The Guild Coin boosters from the Shop were a very useful purchase.

I actually got the Chinchilla Prize (200 shop currency) from roulette twice, although the second time was so late in the postgame that I didn't bother spending it.

 

[Prajna]

It's always interesting to hear your thoughts about the games that I've played.

Yes, the dreaded "Persistent Footsteps" achievement (walked 500000 steps). Since I do a lot of unnecessary moving around and exploring while playing, I usually obtain these walking achievements very early. In this game, though, it seems what counts as a step is somehow different.

So when I had already achieved everything else, I had to walk around for a whole hour to earn the "Persistent Footsteps" achievement - a not so fun conclusion of an otherwise great game. Especially the well-crafted dungeons are a lot of fun, it's most likely the best dungeon design that Exe Create has ever accomplished.

Anyway, to avoid having to walk around with nothing else to do, it could be worth a try not to use the monster terminals when grinding. Instead, by walking around when grinding, the gap to reach 500000 steps might be bridged until the end of one's playthrough. Some Exe Create games even further encourage this method by making certain enemy types ("Leader") only available while walking around (not when using the monster terminals), but I don't remember if that was the case in this game (probably not, or otherwise my final walking session wouldn't have been necessary).

[Victar]

While I did rely on the One Step Boots to trigger random encounters, I also spent a lot of time walking around dungeons with encounters turned off, just to search for every last treasure chest. Some roles come from treasure chests and I didn't want to overlook any. Treasure chests aren't permanently missable, but I enjoyed having access to as many roles as I could while progressing the story.

Shoutout to the chest hidden behind a tree in the final dungeon of the main game. That one kept me searching for an extra long time.

I also wandered around a lot to talk to NPCs, since their dialogue changes after major events, and to check shops, since the gear they sell increases in power as the party gains levels. Even with all that, and doing pretty much everything in the game, I never got the trophy for 250,000 steps, let alone the one for 500,000 steps.

So, these trophies fail the "do I really want to do this more than playing another game" test, lol. There are a few other minor nitpicks - being unable to select certain weapons or armor as "favorites" that cannot be sold or consumed to strengthen rings is a regrettable omission - but the overall game was one of Exe-Create's better offerings.

[Prajna]

It seems I was running around more persistently, or rather more foolishly.

Somewhere in the menu (system or options), there should be statistics that also show the number of steps taken. If you haven't done so already, you might want to check if you walked around long enough and the trophies simply didn't trigger. While I played the PC version and everything (achievements etc.) functioned properly, I'm not so sure about the PS5 version. At least it's not a Nintendo Switch version, where you can't take anything for granted.

Searching behind trees takes up most of my exploration time in JRPGs nowadays. Fortunately, the treasure chests in Exe Create games are always at least partially visible, even if you just get a "keyhole" view of it.

[Victar]

I checked my statistics like you suggested. I was at about 184,000 steps taken.

I also experimented with walking into a wall. That does NOT increase the number of steps taken.

Then I flew around on the air vehicle. That DOES increase the number of steps taken! The number seems to increase even faster when flying diagonally.

So I got a rubber band, used it to loosely hold the PS5 controller stick diagonally while flying, and then did household chores for 30-40 minutes. I got the remaining trophies and the platinum.

Thanks for the tip! (I still think these trophies/achievements are very stupid, but at least other Exe-Create games do not seem to require such a ludicrously high amount of steps.)

[Prajna]

Haha, simply ingenious! Figuring out that flying around increases the number of steps (which I didn't know) and getting the rubber band solution to work, that's a tremendous feat. Congratulations, you earned these trophies like no other.

It doesn't happen that often that rubber bands can be used while playing JRPGs (in absence). I remember that folks used rubber bands to quickly level up Marcus (a temporary party member) in Final Fantasy IX when it became widely known that Marcus's level/stats influence the starting stats of Eiko, a permanent party member that joins later. Still, it's probably not the best game design when players don't want to complete these tasks personally.