DRAGON QUEST XI S Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition: Save File Transfer Guide

First, we want to find where our save files are stored-

Location: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\My Games\DRAGON QUEST XI S\Steam\#########\Saved\SaveGames\Book\

File Names:
data000.sav – Slot 1
data001.sav – Slot 2
…
data008.sav – Slot 9
data254.sav – Autosave (2D Mode)
data255.sav – Autosave (3D Mode)

Location: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Packages\39EA002F.DQXISWW_<random_hash>\SystemAppData\wgs\

File Names: ???
Due to obfuscated filenames on the MS Store version, your best bet here would be to go in-game and compare the time stamps shown there with the “Date Modified” field of the save file in Windows Explorer.

After identifying your save file slots in the step above, rename them to dataXXX.sav (see above for slot #s) and copy them to the correct folder. Start the game

-If a Japanese text box pops up with a simple “yes” or “no” selection, your save file is named to the wrong slot (the game recognizes it as a save, however). Click “no”, then exit the game and rename your save to the correct slot using the step above.

-If an English message in-game pops up telling you that the game must erase your saves or you won’t be able to play- a save file is corrupted (the game does not recognize it as a proper save file). This will not be fixed by renaming your file, check to see if you copied the wrong file. 

Using the first step, you should know which save file is which from the Steam version. Start the MS Store / Gamepass version of the game and create a new save file that matches the slot # of your Steam version file (i.e. I have my Steam slot 4 save, “data003.sav”, so I want to create a new save on the MS Store version on slot 4). Now, exit the game.

You will have a new file in the saves directory — copy/backup this file. Now, copy your dataXXX.sav file into this directory and rename it to match the file you just copied. Open up the game and your Steam save should show.

Troubleshooting: (see section above)