In terms of grinding, there is a little bit for sure. Both for XP and also for loot drops.

The thing is though, and I never really see this talked about anywhere online for some reason, “grinding” in this game actually has a really incredible system built around it.

Your health regenerates between combat encounters, but it’s actually possible to sprint through the open world zones and chain groups of enemies together without leaving combat. As you do this, your “rank” increases.

When you reach S rank, first of all, the music and visuals go nuts haha. Extremely satisfying. But it also increases the drop rate for rate items as long as you maintain it, and it also decreases the respawn rate of enemies (which massively increases the rate you can earn XP)

It’s fun to figure out a route that lets you reach S rank, and then it’s fun to try and maintain it as long as you can before you absolutely need to break out of combat to heal. I found that one or two sessions of this between the main towns was more than enough to stay ahead of the xp curve/farm items for armor.

And the assist mode is great too, in addition to slowing down a few things in the game there’s a damage slider that lets you drop enemy damage down to 20%. So if it would feel better for your hands, you could simply lower the damage down to 80% or so instead of grinding for armor to achieve the same effect. Can also reduce the frequency of enemy attacks if dodging/blocking too often is an issue.

Anyway sorry, I could gush for hours about CrossCode. It’s entirely valid too if the game isn’t for you in the end! I love the pacing, but you really need to buy-in to each aspect of the game to fully enjoy it I think. Some reviewers love the combat but think the puzzles drag, others love the puzzles but think the story sections drag. If you love all three, then CrossCode will almost certainly be your favorite game I think