I started my playthrough on normal mode and I’m already on Chaos island. It took me roughly ten hours? I also did a lot of exploring. I did so much of that I got fast travel to all portals on Ares and Chaos island. I can fight Knight now. I have the white Chaos Emerald unlocked and all the others (except the purple/pink one) in my possession. Soon I can get to Ouranos island. I had a lot of fun exploring, even though I have been there before. I am also much faster now too. I got to Ares island a couple hours faster than on my first playthrough. I feel happy playing the game.