Hey all,
I've been trying to move my Steam save for Digimon Story: Time Stranger (currently testing with the demo, but hit the same issue on the full game) over to my modded Switch, and I've hit a wall that I think is a savedata-signing issue rather than a file-format one. Posting here in case anyone's cracked this for Time Stranger specifically, or has general insight.
Setup:
What I've tried:
What I've ruled out so far:
My working theory: The Switch's save-data system uses a signed/journaled container that JKSV can export the raw contents of, but not the actual signature — .nx_save_meta turned out to just be JKSV's own bookkeeping file (starts with a JKSV magic header), not a real console-level signature blob. So there's no accessible file to "fix" — the integrity check is presumably tied to the console's own keys at the OS level, similar to what I've seen described for other signed-savedata titles (Team Sonic Racing, etc.) where PC-originated save content is never accepted without the console itself having legitimately written it first.
Questions for the thread:
Happy to share more hex dumps / findings if it's useful — I've done a fair amount of digging into the save format itself already, just stuck on the container/signing layer.
Thanks in advance to anyone who's dealt with this.
(7/15/2026) Update — resolved (mostly), and how I got there
Wanted to close the loop on this thread in case anyone else runs into the same wall.
Short version: the "save data list is corrupted" issue I originally posted about turned out to be specific to how I was attempting the transfer for Cyber Sleuth. For Digimon Story: Time Stranger, someone (credit: Sanjato, and the actual tool by TyohDev on GitHub) pointed me to a save converter here:https://github.com/TyohDev/Digimon-Story-Time-Stranger-Save-Converter
It's an actively-developed, "vibe coded" personal project (their words), not a polished release, but it worked. Switch→PC conversion was flawless for me — correct playtime, location, and party data loaded in-game with zero issues. PC→Switch (the harder, previously-untested direction) also worked, once I got past one packaging bug:
Once past that, my converted save loaded on Switch with correct data. The only thing stopping me from actually playing my transferred progress right now is that my PC save references Episode Pack 3 DLC, which isn't out on Switch yet (due July 30) — the game handled that cleanly with its normal "content could not be found" prompt, not a crash or corruption error, so I'm optimistic this resolves itself once that DLC drops.
Posted a bug report on the converter's GitHub for the naming issue in case it helps other people testing PC→Switch. Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this thread.
I've been trying to move my Steam save for Digimon Story: Time Stranger (currently testing with the demo, but hit the same issue on the full game) over to my modded Switch, and I've hit a wall that I think is a savedata-signing issue rather than a file-format one. Posting here in case anyone's cracked this for Time Stranger specifically, or has general insight.
Setup:
- Steam version: 23514637
- Switch version: US, Ver. 1.2.1, CFW via [Atmosphère/etc.]
- Tools used: JKSV for export/import
What I've tried:
- Exported my Switch save folder with JKSV (savedata/0000, 0001, slot_0000, slot_0001, system_data, plus .nx_save_meta outside the savedata folder).
- Replaced the contents of savedata/ with the equivalent files from my Steam save folder.
- Re-imported with JKSV back onto the console.
- Result: "The save data list is corrupted."
What I've ruled out so far:
- This isn't a raw-copy mistake — I used JKSV's proper export/import round-trip, not a manual file swap.
- It's not a content/byte-format issue either: I compared the Steam and Switch save files directly. The main save data (0000/0001) uses AES-128-ECB encryption (confirmed via repeated ciphertext blocks — the same dominant 16-byte block shows up across saves and even inside system_data, meaning it's a single fixed key, not device-specific).
- Even when I tested with byte-for-byte identical file content between the two platforms, the import still corrupted. That rules out a data/offset mismatch — the failure is happening at a level above the actual save content.
My working theory: The Switch's save-data system uses a signed/journaled container that JKSV can export the raw contents of, but not the actual signature — .nx_save_meta turned out to just be JKSV's own bookkeeping file (starts with a JKSV magic header), not a real console-level signature blob. So there's no accessible file to "fix" — the integrity check is presumably tied to the console's own keys at the OS level, similar to what I've seen described for other signed-savedata titles (Team Sonic Racing, etc.) where PC-originated save content is never accepted without the console itself having legitimately written it first.
Questions for the thread:
- Has anyone gotten Time Stranger saves working cross-platform at all (I know this game doesn't officially support crosssaves which is why I am using modded Switch ↔ PC)?
- If you've solved this for a similarly signed-savedata game, what was actually different about your approach — did you find a way to get PC content accepted, or did it end up being "start on Switch, then edit in place" instead?
- Is anyone aware of whether Time Stranger's system_data file (~672 bytes on Switch, looks like plain uncompressed integer fields — no encryption at all) holds anything relevant to save-slot validation that might matter here?
Happy to share more hex dumps / findings if it's useful — I've done a fair amount of digging into the save format itself already, just stuck on the container/signing layer.
Thanks in advance to anyone who's dealt with this.
(7/15/2026) Update — resolved (mostly), and how I got there
Wanted to close the loop on this thread in case anyone else runs into the same wall.
Short version: the "save data list is corrupted" issue I originally posted about turned out to be specific to how I was attempting the transfer for Cyber Sleuth. For Digimon Story: Time Stranger, someone (credit: Sanjato, and the actual tool by TyohDev on GitHub) pointed me to a save converter here:https://github.com/TyohDev/Digimon-Story-Time-Stranger-Save-Converter
It's an actively-developed, "vibe coded" personal project (their words), not a polished release, but it worked. Switch→PC conversion was flawless for me — correct playtime, location, and party data loaded in-game with zero issues. PC→Switch (the harder, previously-untested direction) also worked, once I got past one packaging bug:
- The tool's zip output names the save-container metadata file .nx_save_meta.bin, but the Switch/JKSV format expects it named exactly .nx_save_meta (no extension). Renaming it fixes the "no meta file" error on import.
- Even after renaming, importing the zip fresh still sometimes failed the same way for me — but copying the converted save files directly into an existing JKSV-recognized backup (one already in JKSV's own list, rather than a new zip introduced from outside) and restoring that worked reliably. Worth trying if you hit "no meta file" too.
Once past that, my converted save loaded on Switch with correct data. The only thing stopping me from actually playing my transferred progress right now is that my PC save references Episode Pack 3 DLC, which isn't out on Switch yet (due July 30) — the game handled that cleanly with its normal "content could not be found" prompt, not a crash or corruption error, so I'm optimistic this resolves itself once that DLC drops.
Posted a bug report on the converter's GitHub for the naming issue in case it helps other people testing PC→Switch. Thanks to everyone who chimed in on this thread.
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Last edited by Excaliburn3d,
