Platform, device and operation system
Google Pixel 3A
What were you expecting to happen, and what actually happened
I went several chapters without completing the Side Quests, then started doing them. I noticed that both the dialog and the difficulty of the battles were not correct. For example, Xione talked about collecting the third shard of the Scythe before collecting the first shard.
How often does this happen? When did it begin happening?
This issue is ongoing.
Steps to make it happen again
I have no idea what triggered this issue. It presumably had to do with me not completing the Side Quests I received before getting new ones for completing new chapters.
I’ve always been suspicious of this, but gave not dared attempt to put this logic to the test and forfeit rewards.
I’ve been operating under the assumption that all of a chapter’s sidequests for a given character has to be finished before the start of the next chapter, or they are lost. Your descriptions seem to match up with this assumption.
That said, I’ve tested that a chapter’s sidequests are still completable as late as immediately after clearing that chapter’s dungeon. I think the trigger that may lock off the previous chapter’s sidequests is staring the initial conversation for the first section of the following chapter, as that “formally” registers the player as making progress in the next chapter.