This bug has existed since launch and there doesn't seem to be any fix for it.

The only workaround I found is simply having a wired USB xbox controller instead of a wireless one.

Obviously this doesn't fix the issue if you don't have a wired controller, so my only suggestion is to always save anytime before starting a stage/item world, so that if it crashes you can easily pick it back up. (highly inconvienent, but at least you can make some progress in the game)

Thanks for the response!

My only problem is that the game centers on grinding for long periods of time, something that I happen to find very entertaining. However, if the game crashes while in an item world then I can end up losing a lot of progress.

For the record, it is possible that the bug where it crashes after a long period of play could be a separate one, like an overflow bug of some kind. That being said, I'm certain that I've run into problems with the controller as well.

The fix for this would be for the developers to clean up the controller-integration-support code. AFAIK, this isn't an old bug deep in the bowels of a 12 year old game, the problem lies with how the game works through Steam to offer controller support.

I did encounter a bug that crashes the game when I spent over 9 hours on a single item world map with attack +4. I was at least on turn 784 (The last turn number I remember) with 8 characters each doing 5 attacks every turn. It reached a point where the game froze during an attack animation and crashed.

Though this was a one time thing for me (I immediately started cutting my time grinding on those maps to 4-6 hours just to avoid this happening again)

Not many people will hit 8+ continuous hours in a single map grinding, so I doubt it will ever be that big an issue.

As for the controller, I doubt the devs will fix it, as it is close to a year since launch, and there are still other bugs just as old happening to other players as well. Extremely unfortunate, as its a great game.