Digital Devil Saga Saves

Seeing that DDS 1 and 2 are on PSN, I would like to buy II (I already played 1 on the PS2) however:
I heard there are some bonuses if I have a save file of the first game when starting II.

What I want to know:
Do I have to use a file of the (in my case) Pal region or can I just use a random US-file to unlock that stuff? IIrc I could just do that in FF XIII.
Plus, do I see if DDS2 does recognize the save file, like when I start the game?