Tales of the Abyss - Natalia completely disappears from party!

[Rastaban]

I have this persistent issue in my game where Natalia just straight up disappears from my group for no reason! This isn't the ghosting issue where characters just become invisible (I'm using the GSdx 0 MSVC 18.00 SSSE3 0.1.16 plugin with ToTA ghosting fix enabled), Natalia is completely removed from my party as a playable character in some circumstances.

Whenever I finish (win or lose) a round in the Baticul Colosseum as someone OTHER than Natalia, she is automatically and permanently removed from my party. I have no idea why. It doesn't matter what my group ordering is going into the Colosseum or who other than Natalia actually enters, the group order upon leaving is always Luke-Tear-Guy-Jade-Anise. No Natalia. She's not there after the battle.

She continues to appear in cutscenes and skits as normal, but she's no longer playable.

All speedhacks are off. 
I'm running the game straight off my PS2 disc so I can't have a bad ISO since this problem doesn't happen on the console.
Current version of PCSX2 1.2.1
Intel i7-970 3.2 GHz
6GB RAM
Radeon HD6950
Windows 7 Home Ultimate

***Audio issue solved***

[vsub]

1.Did you ever used cheats since you started playing the game(current game) or are you using some widescreen patch
2.What are your pcsx2 and audio settings.
Also playing from the disk(not image)can case such audio and sometimes video problems(the pc dvd drive is not designed to work like the PS2 drive)
Try creating an image with ImgBurn.

[Rastaban]

1.Did you ever used cheats since you started playing the game(current game) or are you using some widescreen patch
2.What are your pcsx2 and audio settings.
Also playing from the disk(not image)can case such audio and sometimes video problems(the pc dvd drive is not designed to work like the PS2 drive)
Try creating an image with ImgBurn.

I've never used any kind of cheat at any point, though the ghosting fix plugin has to be enabled via the "HW Hacks" menu (it replaces the halfpixel offset fix), and I'm not using any kind of patch. I actually play the game windowed and pretty small lol.

Changing the sync mode from TimeStretch to AsyncMix solved the audio issue though! Thanks

[Ryudo]

That's strange o_O.

Can you upload your save?

[Rastaban]

That's strange o_O.

Can you upload your save?

Sure, how would I do that?
Upload the memory card file or the save state file?

[Ryudo]

Memory Card

[Rastaban]

Memory Card

This happened once before. When you arrive in Grand Chokmah for the first time and Luke asks to be alone (everyone leaves the party), Natalia doesn't appear at the docks like she's supposed to in order to be re-recruited. The game continues as normal anyway and she appears in cutscenes, but she isn't playable just like after a Colosseum match. When your party is forcibly split into 2 groups of 3 in the Meggiora Highlands shortly after, she is playable again, and when the 2 groups of 3 merge, she returns to the full party of 6. 

This happened in both playthroughs but it wasn't too bad because she came back so quickly. I don't know how long I'll have to wait for her to come back after a Colosseum fight now (assuming it has something to do with the game "forcing" people into the party after they leave it for storyline reasons, I don't know when that happens next). If you want to continue with the storyline to see if she pops back at a certain point, I'm on the way to Daath/Mt. Zaleho. 

Save #2 is pre-Colosseum fight
Save #3 is post-Colosseum fight
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=43511593818015992060

Thank you and godspeed lol

[Ryudo]

Alright I'll look into it in a sec.

One more question - Are you using any speedhacks? If so, which ones specifically?

[Rastaban]

Alright I'll look into it in a sec.

One more question - Are you using any speedhacks? If so, which ones specifically?

I started the game using only the recommended speedhacks that were enabled by default.
Once this Colosseum nonsense started happening I turned them all off, but it still happens.

Turns out I don't need speedhacks anyway, I get a solid 60 FPS with all them turned off lol.

[vsub]

Maybe your save is damaged in some way...I tried your save and Natalia disappear but when I tried my save,she did not.