Special K features Tales of Vesperia specific tweaks and features (collectively known as Tales of Vesperia “Fix” or TVFix) created by Kaldaien. The tweaks and fixes remove or significantly reduce stuttering and provide the ability to adjust the visuals of the game with options to enable/disable depth of field, atmospheric bloom, fullscene blur, and more.
While the official March 6 2019 update for the game did improve performance compared to the original game on its own, it also broke about half of TVFix’s post-processing adjustments. Additionally, a Steam client update in September 2021 made the game crash on launch when using certain versions of TVFix. For full compatiblity with TVFix’s features, it was recommended to use an older version of the game (or downgrade the game’s executable)
On March 13 2026, SpecialK/TVFix was updated to support the latest Steam version of the game thanks to contributions from Braasileiro. This made all of TVFix’s features available with the latest Steam version of the game.
| → Aggressive Anti-Stutter | → MSAA support in FlipModel |
| → Continue Running in Background | → MSAA x2 & MSAA x8 options (requires MSAA x4 to be set in the in-game settings) |
| → Reduce Microstutter | → Options to enable/disable Depth of Field, Atmospheric Bloom, Fullscene Blur, and Sharpen Shadows |
| → Aspect Ratio Correction | → Enable/disable Model Animation |
| → Enable/disable Particle Effects | → HDR Display Output (16-bit FP scRGB) |
TVFix currently has a limited feature set for the Microsoft Store version of the game as some features mentioned on this page are unavailable. All features are available with the Steam version of the game.
The usual install procedures apply:
If you experience issues with the Steam Overlay after installing TVFix, try with Maximum Device Latency set to 3 under SwapChain Management in the Special K / TVFix menu (along with the value of 1 for Presentation Interval and set 3 for BufferCount).
The Generate Mipmaps setting may lead to issues with the game’s textures. Leave it disabled.
It’s recommended to cap the game’s framerate at 60.
You can unlock the game’s FPS or set a higher limit under the Framerate limit section in the Special K / TVFix menu. However, keep in mind that while the game (and Special K / TVFix) allows you to set the FPS higher than 60, the game’s animations run no higher than 60 FPS. In other words, frames are doubled. Animation cycles only update at 60 HZ. You may notice motion artifacts (from objects holding the same position for two or more frames) if you set a framerate higher than 60.
You may also want to try the different Framerate limiter modes (Low-latency VRR Optimized mode, Normal mode, or Latent Sync Mode); each mode has different priorities. The Framerate limiter modes can be found in the advanced section of SK’s/TVFix’s control panel (Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + ← Backspace)
If using an Nvidia gpu, enabling Reflex “Low Latency + Boost” or “Nothing But Boost” (also found in the advanced section of SK’s/TVFix’s control panel) may also improve performance or reduce stutter on some systems.
If you still encounter performance issues with the game, you can also try setting BufferCount to 3 or 2 and Maximum Device Latency to 3 and keeping Presentation Interval set to 1. In addition or alternatively, you can also try to enable a Waitable SwapChain in the SpecialK.ini or dxgi.ini file by setting SwapChainWait=66, but keep in mind that having a Waitable SwapChain enabled can crash the game during display mode changes, if/when pressing ALT + Enter, or after setting the MSAA x4 in-game option (you can then launch the game again and still use MSAA though).
Special K / TVFix comes with the option to disable the game’s interface (HUD) and various options for screenshots.
| Take Screenshot without Game’s HUD: | Num - |
| Take Screenshot without Special K’s OSD: | F8 |
| Take Screenshot and insert Special K’s OSD: | Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + F8 |
| Hide HUD: | Alt + ⇧ Shift + H |
A Playstation and Switch buttons mod with instructions can be found over on Steam.
The available options are DualShock 3, DualShock 3 with × and ○ swapped, DualShock 4, and Switch Pro Controller.
After downloading the mod’s controller texture file from the steam thread, place the file into steamapps\common\Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition\SK_Res\inject\textures\ and start the game.
Using ReShade 4.9.1 (maybe other versions of ReShade too) along with TVFix causes multiple features of TVFix to break - including the Depth of Field and Sharpen Shadows settings, the Render Mod Tools section inside the Special K / TVfix menu, the ability to hide the HUD, and other shader mods.