How to Add Cheats to PCSX2 Games

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PCSX2 cheats integration guide is pretty easy and straightforward. So if you are looking to get infinite money and more in any PS2 game, here is how to add cheats to PCSX2.

The PlayStation 2 holds a special place in our hearts as it is a symbol of our childhood or teenage years. Albeit discontinued, its popularity and the urge to replay most of its iconic titles has led to the creation of PCSX2, a free and open-source software and/or PlayStation 2 emulator that functions by emulating the PS2 hardware thereby allowing users to play PS2 games on PCs with ease.

PCSX2 for one thing, offers a plethora of configuration options, including the ability to increase resolution, improve graphics, as well as support for various controller types. However, in addition to not being fully compatible with some PS2 games out there, the absence of an actual cheat option makes it almost impossible for users to cheat in any of their favourite games.

This is where our PCSX2 cheats tutorial comes in to play. Now similar to Dolphin emulator which launched with a cheat system built-in, PCSX2 offers a cheat option within its settings menu, but you will need a .pnach file that have the appropriate codes for the game you want to cheat in, placed in the cheats folder of PCSX2.

This might sound a little bit complicated, but we will be sure to break down PCSX2 cheats guide in the simplest possible term. Now without further delay, here’s how to add cheats to PCSX2 emulator.

Enable The Cheats Option In PCSX2

Before we begin, ensure you are running the latest version of PCSX2 1.7 Nightly build. Now go ahead and double-click to open the PCSX2 emulator and click on the Settings option at the top of the screen. A drop down menu will appear, select Emulation from the list of options and under Game Settings, ensure Enable Cheats is ticked.

Download The .pnach File Of The PS2 Game You Want to Use Cheat In

For this guide, we will be using the PS2 game Beat Down as an example. So to get this one going, head over to gamehacking.org and use the search bar at the top to lookup Beat Down.

Once found, click to select the game with the most number of codes and on the next page, select PCSX2 within the drop-down menu of the Format section, then ensure Checked is ticked.

Now go ahead and scroll down, then tick the box to select the cheat code you want to use. Once done, click on the Download button just beside View and you will be good to go.

Note: If the cheat code you’re looking to add doesn’t get added in the .pnach file you just downloaded, then you will need to add them manually. To do this, double-click to open the .pnach file you downloaded using a Notepad.

Now on gamehacking.org, click on the Info option beneath the specific cheat you are looking to add, then select Codebreaker v7+ from the window that will pop-up and you should see the decrypted code.

Now on the .pnach file edit screen within Notepad, note how the added cheats are written. So to add more cheat, first input // followed by the name of the cheat you are looking to add and then type in patch=1,EE,DECRYPTED CODE HERE,extended,DECRYPTED CODE HERE

Change the “DECRYPTED CODE HERE” text with the decrypted code of the cheat you want to add as displayed on gamehacking.org. Example;

//Press L1+L2 Zero Police Detection Rating By Codejunkies
patch=1,EE,D0685D02,extended,0000FAFF
patch=1,EE,2060CB68,extended,00006400

Note: Some decrypted code features third and maybe fourth row, ensure to add them all using the pattern above.

Once you are done editing the cheat code you are looking to add, click on File at the top left-corner of Notepad and select Save.

Rename The .pnach File With The CRC of The Game You Are Looking To Use Cheat In

To get this one over and done with, right-click on the PS2 game you are looking to use cheat in within PCSX2 (we’ll be using Best Down as said earlier) . A drop-menu will appear, go ahead and select Properties, then copy the game’s CRC as displayed on the screen below.

With that done, locate the .pnach file you edited just now within your Downloads folder and replace the name with the CRC you copied earlier. For example;

If Beatdown-Fists of vengeance (NTSC_U).pnach is the original file name, simply rename it to C9F6EF9A.pnach where C9F6EF9A is the CRC of the game you are looking to use cheat in.

Place the .pnach File in the Cheats Folder of PCSX2

This of course is probably the last step. So go ahead and right-click on PCSX2 emulator. A drop menu will appear, simply select Open File Location from the list of options.

From here, click on the Cheats folder within PCSX2 directory and then drag and drop the .pnach file into this location and you will be good to go.

Open The Specific Game You Just Added Cheats To

With everything done, simply double-click to open PCSX2 and then select the game you just added cheats to. Once in-game, you should notice that the cheats has been automatically activated.

Wrapping Up

So this is basically the only working PCSX2 cheats you will ever need. With this guide, adding cheats to any PS2 game playable on PCSX2 will be as easy as ABC. Overall, happy gaming.