Marvel's Avengers PS5 Cross-Gen Save Migration is ABSOLUTE GARBAGE

[LiquidSolid]

Wut really? Was the game save file format changed or something?

I just don't understand what the point of that would be. Regardless if that, obviously there's a process either in the dev tools or the PSN backend that converts the PS4 save data into the PS5 version and I don't get why that can't just be done during the initial install.

I've played 360 games on my XSX and it just syncs my decade old save file in two seconds and is ready to go. I feel like the PS5s issue is caused by some artifact of code that can't be modified without breaking something else so they decided on this way of doing things.

Also, while the next year is going to be the cross-gen period for us hardcore Day 1 gamers, the more casual folks will jump in over the next few years and have the same headache if they try to play the enhanced versions of games in their library.

Click to shrink...

Comparing backwards compatible 360 games to this makes absolutely no sense because they're still 360 games underneath the wrapper Microsoft have created for them. There's nothing particularly unique about that, I can play PS1 games on my Vita and use my old saves from the 90s. A more accurate comparison would be using an Assassin's Creed 4 save from the 360 version on the XB1 version of AC4, which wasn't possible.

It's really not that hard to understand. The PS5 isn't just a hardware upgrade from the PS4, it's a brand new system with its own saves.

Casual players won't give a shit about transferring all their saves over, aside from the GaaS games that already save your progress online anyway (Destiny 2, Fortnite, etc). The fact Avengers saves locally makes it the odd one out in that regard and definitely seems like a screw up on Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix's part.

So how does it work? Like with Vita/PS3/PS4 transfers? Starting the "old" version, upload your savegame in-game to a cloud and then start the new version and download the savegame again?

Click to shrink...

Yup, it's exactly like the PS3/PS4/Vita save transfers.

 

[Iwao]

It's ridiculous and considering how this wasn't so much a problem with PS3/Vita/PS4 cross-saves I'd expect the same with PS5, but it hasn't happened on that many games so far, right? Hopefullly these examples will prompt a more elegant solution going forward. I mean, in this case an online GaaS game relying on local saves is a bit… eh.

 

[Loadout]

The Playstation OS is so bad when it comes to handling different versions of the same game, it has been a pain for me for years and PS5 did absolutely nothing to fix it.

I have many physical copies of games that were distributed on PS Plus and it's impossible to transfer saves from physical copy to digital copy, even if they're both in the same region. I can understand not being able to transfer saves between different regions of the same game because of some minor differences and separate trophy lists but not being able to use the same save data for physical and digital copies of the same game on the same region is just frustrating.

Another annoyance I have is with imported games, Playstation has a weird region lock thingy where if you buy a DLC separately it has to be on the same region as the base game.

Many things feel backwards on PS and it has been like that for years. Makes me wonder how weirdly they designed their infrastructure when even name changing took them so long to implement.

 

[ghostcrew]

It's really not that hard to understand. The PS5 isn't just a hardware upgrade from the PS4, it's a brand new system with its own saves.

Click to shrink...

Yes, that's the issue. The fact that it has some wildly different save system that is unable to read PS4 saves and convert them without having to reupload your PS4 save to some special in-game service rather than the console finding them and just making them work is the issue. It's an annoying system. I don't think anyone expected this mess. It's functionally bad.

It's not a deal breaker. I'm not selling my PS5 because I have to install two copies of games and read a FAQ every time a new game needs a cloud save to see what system it uses. But I can appreciate that it's less than ideal and probably should've been handled more elegantly seeing as we're all stuck with cross-gen games for a couple of years.

 

[DominicanGlory]

First world problems.

 

[Puroresu_kid]

The Playstation OS is so bad when it comes to handling different versions of the same game, it has been a pain for me for years and PS5 did absolutely nothing to fix it.

I have many physical copies of games that were distributed on PS Plus and it's impossible to transfer saves from physical copy to digital copy, even if they're both in the same region. I can understand not being able to transfer saves between different regions of the same game because of some minor differences and separate trophy lists but not being able to use the same save data for physical and digital copies of the same game on the same region is just frustrating.

Another annoyance I have is with imported games, Playstation has a weird region lock thingy where if you buy a DLC separately it has to be on the same region as the base game.

Many things feel backwards on PS and it has been like that for years. Makes me wonder how weirdly they designed their infrastructure when even name changing took them so long to implement.

Click to shrink...

The DLC region lock is nothing short of a joke. Even Nintendo don't lock DLC behind regions.

It's ridiculous that Sony still doesnt let you change the region of your account. You should be able to purchase games from any digital store you want.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Yup, it's exactly like the PS3/PS4/Vita save transfers.

Click to shrink...

Well, then it's not exactly rocket science. Certainly not a modern way to solve it, but functional.

 

[AstralSphere]

This is on Sony more than it is Square/CD.

That said, the decision to put the save transfer option live on the PS4 version at the exact same time as the PS5 version went live was an utterly baffling decision. Everyone going online to upload the saves at the same time destroyed their servers. It took me a dozen attempts to finally get it to work.

If only there there was another big high profile game from a couple of months ago that made the same fuck up with the exact same end result that they could have learned from...

 

[ghostcrew]

Well, then it's not exactly rocket science. Certainly not a modern way to solve it, but functional.

Click to shrink...

I think the argument is that it's slightly less functional in an age where games are ~100GB to download (like FF7R) and you're expected to download two different versions. It was obviously less of an issue with things like Hotline Miami and Luftrausers.

 

[Liliana]

First world problems.

Click to shrink...

Are you serious?

 

[spad3]

The reason for keeping both copies is cuz if the transfer crashes you can go back and redo the save transfer initiation.

Avengers actually has a save transfer crash that i briefly encountered and has been addressed by SE.

 

[CloseTalker]

People saying "this is how it was from PS3 to PS4, what's the problem?" as if it's not stupid for processes to not have advanced in 8 years

 

[8byte]

It absolutely does suck. Thankfully it won't really matter in a year or so. Just gonna have to bite down in the mean time, because it aint changing. Maybe next gen.

 

[Ariesfirebomb]

Cuz not all games do that, for example - MK11 and Destiny both transferred saves cuz they're tied to your PSN account.

Click to shrink...

yeah this isn't a Sony issue for once. This is strictly up to the developers.

 

[NewDust]

I've been thinking about this for the last few days, and the only 'easy' solution I can come up with, is have a website for each game (or a Sony centralized save migration page) and upload the PS4 save data there. This would at least cut out the need for having a PS4 install. Still inelegant, but a whole lot more bearable.

yeah this isn't a Sony issue for once. This is strictly up to the developers.

Click to shrink...

It's definitely a Sony issue that they didn't set up a system wide transfer system and basically said to devs "figure it out yourselves".

MK11 also doesn't offer complete save data transfer, for instance story progression will not carry over.

 

[NightHamAlum]

I had this happen with Spider-Man Remastered migrating my PS4 save to PS5.

I had deleted the PS4 edition months prior from my PS4 and was really annoyed at having to re-install the entire game + plus wait for the latest update to download before I could finally upload my PS4 save to Insomniac's servers and pull into my PS5.

I would love for Sony to figure out a solution down the line because this is really silly. You'd think transferring via PS+ Cloud saves would be the natural solution.