Hello everyone, need to ask whether any of you here experienced this issue before and how to fix it:

I am 130+ hours in a game when suddenly after I loaded my saved file the controller's square, triangle, start, and R1 buttons are not working at all except during battles. When out in the field, none of these buttons work which means I cannot open any menu at all. I cannot even pause the game. How to continue playing when the main game menu cannot be opened? (Cannot change equipment, change members, use items, use magic, etc)

However during battle and in other games, they work just fine.
I even tried loading a new game but still same problem.
Tried unplugging the PS3 still same issue.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Ni No Kuni

Haha thanks I found that too when I tried googling around.
Not working at all...why now? After 130+ hours..

Should I really get another controller or get another copy of the game?

I read somewhere that Sleeping Dogs had the same problem too with some gamers..such weird problem. Some bug?

Tried..still not working.

Yeah will try everything and anything..if all else fails, I probably have to get a new controller / game..