Topic: Need Help: Unable to Load Previous Saves

Hopefully some fellow wastelander here can help me out of this bind. I've been playing the same Fallout 4 game on the PS4 for over two years, devoting most of that time to building settlements. (I've been using the same non-Creative Club building mods since I started, and haven't any to my load order since then.) A few days ago, I decided to reload the most recent save as I was unhappy with my current progress, which I do quite often. Unfortunately, when I did this, the loading screen played indefinitely. I did not receive the “This File Has Been Corrupted” message warning, but I decided to shut down the game and restart, reloading an earlier save, but had the same issue. No error messages, just the load screen playing for twenty minutes before I tried yet another, older save. Frustrated, I switched my user profile and opened my first game from years prior, but it had no issues. I then turned the PS4 off, unplugged it, and restarted, but nothing had changed.

Since then, I have performed a number of basic procedures that have rectified temporary issues in the past: Cleaning the disk, restarting the PS4 before and after cutting of power, ensuring that all updates were up-to-date (which they were prior to “crash”), deleting unnecessary saves, spending more time (up to an hour) hoping the load screen would eventually allow me access, but to no avail. I have yet to reinstall the game and the few DLCs, but since I want to save all of my game info/saves to a thumb drive first (which I am currently unable to do as I don't have one with enough space), and consider this a last resort.

I'm pretty certain that my excessive settlement builds are responsible for this issue, and I've done my best to delete unwanted builds and cutting down on excessive inventory along the way in order to accommodate further construction. If I can find a way back in, I plan on intensively paring down such existing memory hogs (as it's helped in the past), but I cannot do that until I can access the current game. But is it too little, too late?

I'm really desperate, as I've invested years into building this particular group of settlements (which are the focus for a series of YouTube videos I began uploading in 2023), so this loss would be devastating. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there a way to fix it, thus salvaging all of my work? Any and all help will be met with my undying gratitude, as I've been unable to find anyone addressing this particular issue through numerous web searches. Thanks in advance...

@Trashfiend1968 Hey buddy, sorry to hear of your plight. While I think all the methods you suggest are what I would have suggested the point you made about the save becoming bloated due to settlement building is a valid one. I’ve watched a guy on YouTube (I forget the name) who was trying to level up without leaving Sanctuary and encountered the game essentially collapsing in on itself after many hours. It’s pretty heartbreaking but it may be the case you have reached the point of no return.

Sorry friend I wish I could have been of more assistance.

At this point, I'm pretty certain it's due to bloat as well, but I keep (desperately) hoping that someone can offer me a practical means to access my existing game so that I can somehow alleviate it so that I can continue. Regardless, thanks for the sympathy and supportive comment...