Lost No Man’s Sky save after reinstall on PS5 — PS4 vs PS5 version confusion? [Question]
I’m trying to recover my old No Man’s Sky save from 2021 (1000+ hours).
Back then I played on PS5, but I had installed the game on an external SSD when I first bought the console. I recently plugged the SSD back in and reinstalled the game.
Now everything is confusing because I seem to have multiple versions showing:
Current situation
Under Console Storage: • PS5 version installed • 26.77 GB • Version 6.024 • PS4 version showing • 541.3 MB • Version 3.53 • message:
“Main data not installed in this storage space”
Under Saved Data: • PS5 save present • 79.04 MB • created when I accidentally started a new game • PS4 save section currently shows no saved data on console
Previously I saw a PS4 cloud save around 39 MB dated 2020, but now I don’t see it available to download.
When I try to manage PS4 saved data, the PS5 says:
can’t move PS4 save without main data installed
When launching the game I see:
“Which version do you want to view?”
PS5 version works
PS4 version says connect USB drive it’s installed on
Also my profile still shows:
1068 hours played
so the account history exists.
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What I’m trying to figure out 1. Was the original save likely a PS4 version played via backward compatibility? 2. Does the PS4 version need to be fully reinstalled before the save becomes visible again? 3. Could the old save still be on the SSD somewhere? 4. Is it possible cloud sync overwrote the original PS4 save when I launched the PS5 version? 5. Has anyone recovered a PS4 save after reinstalling on PS5 like this?
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Extra context
The SSD had not been powered on since 2021.
I moved the game installs between internal storage and the SSD trying to troubleshoot.
Right now the PS4 version appears to just be a placeholder...