Version 0.9.5-1002 seems to have fixed SO:FD. (Windows 8 - 64 Bit version of PPSSPP). No invisible sprites (that I can see at least... lol). NO getting stuck at black screen during battle loads. First 15 minutes of game plays smooth as silk.
EDIT: However this is a "slight" delay with some text dialogue showing up, but its barely noticeable and very tolerable.
EDIT2: Spoke too soon, as soon as you go out to the overworld and the return into a town, the characters go invisible again. This is easily fixed however by switching to non-buffered rendering. So the game needs to be played non-buffered it seems
EDIT: However this is a "slight" delay with some text dialogue showing up, but its barely noticeable and very tolerable.
EDIT2: Spoke too soon, as soon as you go out to the overworld and the return into a town, the characters go invisible again. This is easily fixed however by switching to non-buffered rendering. So the game needs to be played non-buffered it seems

