Shinkigen Gensou Spectral Souls Hidden Character Guide and Secrets FAQ
Version 1.0 - 12/4/2004
[email protected]

This FAQ is meant as a reference for getting every hidden character in the game
a long with a few tips and tricks. This will not be a full, comprehensive
guide. I am going to assume anyone who is playing this has a decent grasp of
Japanese and an understanding of the game systems such as Charge and
Compounding. There will be JP text contained here, which you will of course
need some way to view. I am going to list everything in Japanese, except for
character names, to avoid translation confusion.

The most important advice I will give first. After every story dungeon, visit
every town that is open to you. Go to every area until that area doesn't yield
an event. There is a ton of character interaction here, along with tons of
items and event flags to get.

I. Learning skills
The skill system is a bit different from other SRPGs. A lot of weapons come
with skills attached to them. When compounding, you can transfer these skills
to weapons with open slots. As characters kill enemies, they will gain EP. Gain
enough EP, and the skills on their weapons can be extracted into a consumable
item. A good way to exploit this is to give characters like Hiro, Akira or
others who get a lot of kills, skills for mages or other support characters.
This will allow them to learn skills easier, opening up their original skills
faster. The most important skill in the game is Power Charge (�p���[�`���[�W).
The only weapon that you can get this skill from is the Crash Sword
(�N���b�V���\�[�h). Hoard these whenever you get them.

II. Hidden Characters

Kyou
After seeing the initial events with Niva in ��,�2s�s�j���@, go back to
�A���G�b�g����before going continuing the Niva events. Kyou will be lost and
looking for the way to the inn. Tell her the correct way, �E. This event is
very easy to miss, so be sure to see it. After finishing in the city
,��"N�g���A will open up on the map. Go to �A���n�C����on that map for another
event. Choose ��1���2�����?in the conversation to get Kyou.

Helene
Head to ���X�E��*����V�� in ��"N�g���A to see events. When given the chance,
choose ��!���!�!�!�M Afterwards, head to �~�h���X�g���[�g and hear about
monsters in the city. This will open up a new location, �u�x�N�g���A��,x. Go
there, win the battle, and Helene will join.

Frederica
First, recruit Kyou. During the storyline battle in �}�X�^�b�V�����X, use Kyou
to speak to Frederica. She will join on the spot.

Galahad
After the events in the town of ���g, return to ��"N�g���A. See all the events
in ��(����t and ���X�E��*����V��. Return to the world map, and a new area will
be open. �T�N�\�����X. During the battle there, use Niva to speak to Galahad.

Shuu
After clearing �[���M������ once again head to ��"N�g���A. At
�~�h���X�g���[�g, you will hear about monsters. On the world map, this will
open �E�H���X���� Speak to Shuu with Galahad during the battle there.

Raoul
During the battle in �Q�[�l������� speak to Raoul with Figo.

Kuuya and Yen-o
After recruiting Figo and Raoul, return to ��"N�g���A. See the events in
��*����V��. �u���L�D���_�a will open up on the map. During the battle there,
speak to both characters with Shuu. This battle is very annoying because of the
bats and the 100 turn time limit.  Try and get Shuus' agility up a few points
before coming here to make recruiting both characters and getting all the items
easier.

Shell
Shell requires beating retry dungeons in a specific order. She will not join if
not done in this order: 1. �}�X�^�b�V�����X, 2. �[���M������ 3.
�u���L�D���_�a. Generally, retry dungeons are beatable after clearing the story
dungeon that comes after it. I recommend doing them at that time to make sure
Shell joins.

Runelba
In ��!��X�I����, go to ���F�X�g���� You will see an event with Runelba and
other characters. Ren Walt and Horn join afterwards. Next, go to ���O��for
another event with Runelba. During the battle in �s�[�W���`��� use Myuu to
speak with Meive. Bck in ��!��X�I����, first go to ���O�� then to
���F�X�g����and she will join. Arguably the best character in the game.

Shekiru
After recruiting Shuu, go to ��"N�g���A to see an automatic event involving
Meive and a shadow. Next, during the battle at �s�[�W���`��� speak to Meive
with Myuu. Return to ��!��X�I����. After seeing the event with Runelba in
���O�� enter that area again quickly before recruiting her. Another event with
Shekiru will activate. Recruit Runelba, then return to this area one last time
for another event. Finally, during the final battle in �A���g�R, use Runelba
and Myuu to speak to Meive. Meive will join in battle, but will later be
revealed as Shekiru. She will join if you speak to her with either Myuu or
Runelba, but speaking with both are required to recruit Hiro later on.

Radeuy(?)
After clearing the �A���g�R, head over to �����눀 in �x�N�g���A. He will join.
There may be a required flag involving Myuu, so make sure you keep up seeing
events in between storyline dungeons.

Scarface
He can be very tricky. You will first run into him during the middle fight at
�[���M������ During this battle, he has to attack Akira. You can trigger this
by simply attacking him with Akira. He will counter attack, triggering the
needed event. Finish the battle without killing him. Next, you will see him at
�u���L�D���_�a. During this battle, use Akira to speak to him. Again finish
without killing him. You can recruit him at �s�G�[�f��n in the 2nd fight. Use
Myuu to speak to him. This will give you every character, allowing you to go
after.....

Hiro
Over the course of the game, you will see a few events discussing the Neverland
Great Wars. One of them discusses Hiro and her role. Make sure you see this.
Next, recruit all other characters. After clearing �s�G�[�f��1n, head to
���[�����{�t. Enter �x�O to see an event with Hiro. Afterwards, �i�v���y will
open on the map. You will fight Hiro 1 on 1 with Runelba. It isn't very hard,
but equip some fire protection to be safe. Hiro rocks, as she does in every
game.

III. Retry dungeons and the Door to Another World
These are the main places to level up characters and hoard items for
compounding. Retry dungeons are basically harder versions of the story
dungeons, with varying sets of enemies. You can access them after clearing the
story there. Clearing each retry dungeon nets you a title, lots of items, and
good experience. Tackle them all repeatedly. The Door to Another world is a 100
level bonus dungeon. Progressing in sets of 5, the first 4 floors simply need
you to get to the exit, the 5th requiring the slaughter of all enemies on the
stage. The first 50 floors are available during the main story, the final 50
become unlocked after beating the game. If you die in either of these, it isn't
game over, but you lose all unequipped items in your inventory.

IV. Clear mode.
After beating the main story, you get the chance to save. Load from this file,
and you will be back on the world map. From here, you get a slew of challenges
to tackle.

Floors 50-100 in the Door to Another World. The difficulty ramps up steadily,
and from 80 on up, you will face a major boss every 5 floors. There are tons
upon tons of great items to be found and stolen here, so bring Kyou and her
skill that steals rare items with a 100% rate. It should be noted that from
51-89 the only way out of here is to use a �X�J���x item, so be absolutely sure
that you give one to one of your party members. Also, the skill Escape
(�G�X�P�[�v) is a godsend in here, so either use a character who can learn it,
or put it on a weapon. Other important skills in here are Search Eye
(�T�[�`�E�A�C) and Trap Clear (�g���b�v�N���A), to reveal items and get rid of
the brutal traps, respectively. Each floor is brimming with the worst traps in
the game, such as the one that makes you PERMANENTLY forget a skill, and the
one that PERMANENTLY steals an item from you. Floors 90-100 have to be taken
consecutively, with no way out, and 95-100 require slaying every enemy on each
floor, so be prepared for a long haul.

The Doppelgangers. These are jacked up versions of the main storyline villians.
The main difficulty I found doesn't really lie in the doppelganger themself,
but in swarms of tropps that appear with them. At the beginning of each fight,
there will be the doppelganger, then 2 sets of 4 troops. After beating all 4
from one set, another class will appear, until a total of 5 sets have been
killed. Compounding difficulty, at 100 turns, 4 "General" type troops will
spawn, meaning you can have up to 13 very difficult enemies surrounding you at
once. My advice is to have Runelba, Helene, and Hiro in your party for this.
Give Hiro the skills Maximum Charge (�}�L�V���`���[�W) and Energy Cut
(�G�i�W�[�J�b�g). ASAP, use Maximum Charge, set a charged Energy Cut on the
doppelganer (make sure one of your characters follows Hiros' turn, so this
doesn't get interrupted.) Set off Hiros' attack, which with a properly pumped
up weapon, will do 30,000 damage or more, clearing full MP from the
Doppelganger. This will make them much easier to deal with. To deal with the
hoards, have Runelba spam her ��+����P�j skill. Have Helene use ���� to keep
Runelbas' SP up. The Doppelgangers' are located here:
Hyudor -> �[���M������
Meive -> �v���L�D���_�a
Cassius -> �A���g�R
Kundry -> �u���[�t�B�����X
Beating these 4 unlocks Doppelganger Cringzole in �����X. Also, the items you
get from the titles associated with beating them can be compounded to make the
SOC sword, the best weapon for Akira. The item from Cringzoles' title is an
ingredient for the best weapon for Myuu.
Defeat Cringzole to open up the final boss battle, vs. �V�����in �f�B�O�j�_�[��M

You can also start a new game from your clear save, but I don't know the
advantages. From what I gather, all items from your initial clear, and
everything you get from the next playthrough will be combined on the following
clear play.

V. Titles
Accomplishing various goals in the game will get you a title. Choose the ����
from the main menu to see if you have earned any. You get them for recruiting
hidden characters, completing retry dungeons, defeating XXX number of enemies,
specific bosses, among other things. Eventually I will include a list of all
titles and their requirements. Titles are an easy way to get some very rare
items.

VI. Disclaimers, revisions and thanks
This FAQ was created by me, Jae Church. Do not post it, reproduce it, or steal
bits of it without permission. Odds are if you ask, I will so yes, so have some
manners.

Revision 1.0- Started the FAQ, completed sections I, II, III, IV, V, and VI.

Thank you to:
Idea Factory for creating the entire Neverland world and it's series of games.

Gamefaqs for posting this

New Wind of Kotaro
http://homepage3.nifty.com/new_wind_of_kontaro/index.htm

The fine folks over at the Supara Spectral board for answering my questions
http://game.surpara.com/bbs/if-souls2/