Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
Developer(s): Tri-Ace
Publisher(s): Square Enix
Genre: RPG
Wikipedia: Link
Game review links: Metacritic: 84/100
Game description: Hundreds of years before Lenneth's tale, another saga lies concealed by the gods. The valkyrie Silmeria once served Odin loyally, but after an incident ignited a conflict between them, Odin forcefully reincarnated her as a human. The human soul that would carry her spirit was that of Alicia, Princess of Dipan. Ordinarily, Silmeria-s consciousness would have been sealed, her spirit dormant until she was next summoned... However, the forced transmigration causes Silmeria's spirit to awaken within Alicia, leaving two souls to inhabit a single body. The spirit that should have been sealed has awakened-a situation Odin will not ignore for long. This installment introduces the new Photon Action System to the classic side-scrolling action format found in the original. Projecting photons grants players more freedom to explore and expands the action, resulting in challenging puzzles with clever solutions. Add to that "sealstones" that affect the laws of nature in dungeons, launching strategy to new heights. The unique battle system of the previous game has evolved into the Advanced Tactical Combination Battle System.
Test configurations on Windows:
Environment | Configurations | Comments | Tester | ||||
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Region | OS | CPU/GPU | Revision | Graphics | Sound/Pad | ||
NTSC-U | ? |
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pre 0.9.7 Beta (r1888) | GSdx 2660 |
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HACKS: VU-Add Hack (Tri-Ace games boot fix), Set the Interlace Mode to Bob Tff (use Blend if shaking) to make the game look smooth. Needs a fast CPU and GPU. It will need at least a Core 2 Duo @ 3.4 GHz and a 9600GT or equivalent to maintain full speed throughout the game. However, the game has some bugs and will drop FPS to around the 20-50 range. It only happens in some areas of the game. | Master DX |
NTSC-U | Windows 7 |
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1.4.0 | GSdx SSE2
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Speedhacks: 3 - Balanced. Is playable (60 ~ 70% speed) until i reach "Lost Forest" because red black box, i tried to play in software/opengl mode but speed drops to 20 ~ 30%, making game unplayable. | Charl9576 |
NTSC-U | Windows 7 |
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v1.5.0 (dev-1189 gc1f45da) | GSdx 1.1.0 |
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Runs Full speed OpenGL Mode 4x, Blending Unit Accuracy:Basic, CRC Level:Full, TF:Forced, MTVU:On ( I have this on by default) | Tsunami2311 |
PAL (UK) | Windows 10 |
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v1.5.0 (dev-3359 geb2ca00e8) | GSdx 1.1.0 (20200126161643)
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Runs much better than NTSC Version, as long as Maori-Jigglypuff's Overhaul pnach is applied. Pnach fixes various graphical bugs including the "Lost Forest Bug", disables anti-cheating mechanism, and improves speed overall, so setting of PCSX2's GSDX Plugin (OpenGL) can be at default and yet runs smoothly at 50 FPS 95% of the time, and now you can cheat with no crashes onwards. For "Vanilla" gameplay, comment out the obvious cheats in OTH, Items, Ravine timer and disabled enemy AI on his pnach. | jaceleon |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 |
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1.6.0 | GSdx 1.2.0 AVX2, Direct3D11 (Hardware) |
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Runs very well but is quite blurry out of the box, to fix this hold 'x' and 'triangle' while starting the game, the game will show a screen to enable progressive scan, press square. Then in the video plugin settings, increase the internal resolution, tick 'enable HW Hacks', press the 'Advanced Settings and Hack' button, tick 'Frame Buffer Conversion' and set 'Half-pixel Offset' to 'Special (Texture)'. | Eideren |
PAL / NTSC | Windows 10 Pro \ Ubuntu 20.04 |
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1.7.0 (dev-1190)
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GSdx 1.2.0 AVX2
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Runs good 3x resolution (only in Forest is slow and color bug in HW, SW is ok), Updated review 2021 Use settings advised below | FelixThecat1970 |
NTSC-U | Windows 10 |
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1.7.2465 | GSdx OpenGL @ 6x Native (4K) |
SPU2-X 2.0.0 | Works very well with most issues fixed with the following settings: Renderer: OpenGL, Interlace Mode: Bob Tff, Texture Filtering=Bilinear (Forced excluding Sprites), Manual hacks: Skipdraw=15 to disable low-res depth of field in cutscenes (use alongside "Lost Forest Fix cheat file" (see Additional patches)), enable Align Sprite, set Half-Pixel Offset to Normal. | PyreLight |
Trivia
- Original names: ヴァルキリープロファイル2 -シルメリア- (SLPM-66419) & (SE-W0003) & (SLPM-66782), 발키리 프로파일2 -실메리아- (SCKA-20079)
- Holding the triangle and X buttons while the game boots up allows the selection of Progressive Scan mode. Alternatively you can use autoboot code for SLPM_664.19;1 or SLUS_214.52, PAL releases do not have progressive mode but "interlacing" can be disabled with this cheat or more advanced Sharp framebuffer codes here.
- There is a widescreen patch for the game, but the NTSC-U version was removed from the archive in the git build 1.5.0-dev-1090 due to the fact that it causes various freezes in the game. Most notable was if you try to enter 'Sound Settings' while the patch is enabled, it will instantly freeze PCSX2 entirely. The same happens when trying to enter the Change Attack screen, or even fighting the final boss. This is most likely caused by the built-in anticheat system of VP2.
Known Issues
Ghosting on some screens
- Status: Active
- Type: Minor
- Description: Valkyrie Profile 2 suffers from ghosting similar to Tales of the Abyss. This issue only occurs on certain maps.
- Workaround: Press F9 to switch to Software Mode, or PCSX2 1.7 dev buils 1190 PCSX2 > Config > Video(GS) > plugin settings > "Enable HW Hacks" > upscaling Hacks > Half-pixel Offset = "Normal Vertex"
Audio missing and freeze during cutscene.
- Status: Active
- Type: Serious
- Description: Entering the boss room in the Turgen Mines dungeon triggers a short cutscene. Audio is completely missing during the scene. Half-way through the scene the game softlocks. Some animations will continue to play, but the cutscene does not advance and trigger the boss.
- Workaround: Go To Config > Audio (SPU2) > Plugin Settings, and set Synchronizing Mode to "Async Mix". Alternatively, press "start" to skip the cutscene. The boss battle will resume after skipping it.
Screen dims while performing certain actions
- Status: Active
- Type: Minor
- Description: While using a non-software renderer, the screen darkens while dashing during combat, or while photon teleporting.
- Workaround: Use software rendering. Alternatively, enable cheats, create a .pnach file for the game, and use the cheat: "patch=1,EE,002dbe1c,word,64030000". This disables blur and bloom effects, but only fixes dashing.
Fixed Issues
Vertical lines during FMVs.
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Serious
- Description: Some FMVs will have vertical lines on them, some will be barely noticeable while others are visible on the entire screen. It doesn't affect the game much itself as everything is still visible.
- Workaround: Set Texture Filtering to Bilinear(Forced excluding sprites) and in Hacks: Half-Pixel Offset to "Normal (Vertex)" and enable "Align Sprite" and "Merge Sprite".
Bad rendering in certain areas
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Serious
- Description: In some areas of the game (in particular the Forest area at the start of the game), there will be a purple effect all over the screen when the Renderer is set to any of the Hardware modes. You can still advance, but it will be very difficult to move around without being able to see where you are exactly.
- Workaround: This has been resolved in recent v1.5.0 git builds. Use OpenGL renderer and keep Blending Accuracy to at least Basic level. CRC hack level should be left on Automatic.
Missing shadows
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: Real-time shadows are missing.
- Workaround: This has been resolved in recent v1.5.0 git builds. Use OpenGL renderer and keep Blending Accuracy to at least Basic level. CRC hack level should be left on Automatic.
Missing post-processing effects (Depth of Field, Bloom, etc.)
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: When using Direct3D hardware renderers, the game will be missing various kinds of post-processing effects.
- Workaround: This has been resolved in recent v1.5.0 git builds. Use OpenGL renderer and keep Blending Accuracy to at least Basic level. CRC hack level should be left on Automatic.
Framerate drops, and zooming issues. (Only affects NVIDIA cards)
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: Using Direct3D11 (Hardware) on an NVIDIA card will cause a drop in frame rates and the game menus will zoom in and out.
- Workaround: Enable the NVIDIA Hack or run the game in Progressive Scan mode. Information enabling Progressive Scan can be found under the Trivia section.
Ravine Cavern Rush (Fixed in v0.9.7)
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Serious
- Description: Some areas will be covered in fog making it hard to see anything at all (This was an old GSdx problem where fog was not rendered correctly.)
- Workaround: N/A (Fixed)
Tower of Lezard Valeth (Fixed in v0.9.7)
- Status: Fixed
- Type: Minor
- Description: The fog in the first section of the dungeon will be dark, making the entire area a bit difficult to see. The character textures however, will still be visible.
- Workaround: N/A (Fixed)
Gameplay Screenshots
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