Save Points Guide: Critical Save Slots and Reload Strategy

Save System Basics

Saves occur at lodging, discovered city save points, and automatic checkpoints before major tactical missions. Manual saves at lodging are unlimited — use them. Automatic checkpoints overwrite a single internal slot per chapter region; do not rely on them for ending experiments.

Steam Cloud syncs manual saves across PCs but can complicate deliberate slot management — name saves clearly if the platform allows custom labels via OS folders, or maintain a written journal of slot numbers.

Enable autosave if offered in Settings but never substitute autosave for pre-branch manual slots below.

Slot 1: End Day 1 Lodging

Protects against early companion registration mistakes and tutorial social experiments. Reload here if Day 3 bad-event tutorial exposure stacked from curiosity. Low cost replay — only two days — ideal for achievement hunters testing dialogue without contaminating main slot.

Not sufficient for mid-game recovery — too much replay distance later.

Slot 2: End Day 5 / Early Game Start

Best rollback for Slums witness chain timing and Market job board mistakes before Noble Quarter invitation. If you missed witness chain step one for several days, reload here rather than Slot 1 to preserve Days 2–5 companion work.

Rename mentally as "Early Game clean" once map counters except known gates are cleared.

Slot 3: Pre-Banquet Invitation

Save immediately before accepting Noble Quarter invitation at Early Game end. Protects banquet exposure experiments and escort assignment learning. Gallery hunters trigger optional bad-event banquet outcomes here without touching main progress slot.

Keep this slot untouched through mid-game if planning multiple ending attempts — banquet mistakes are the most common reload trigger in launch player reports.

Slot 4: Pre-Crisis Countdown

Save after final mid-game mandatory fight briefing but before triggering countdown activation cutscene. This is the most valuable slot for true ending attempts — contains completed clue threads, Micoco registration, and companion trust without crisis time pressure.

Branch endings from here: load Slot 4, play crisis with low exposure for true ending; duplicate crisis approach on Slot 5 for bad ending exposure tests; return to Slot 4 again for standard ending moderate choices.

Do not overwrite Slot 4 until all ending achievements obtained or you accept replaying mid-game.

Slot 5: Crisis Branch Laboratory

Overwrite freely during countdown experiments. Use for bad ending achievement, failed tactical learning, and optional risky CG triggers that spike exposure. When satisfied, return to Slot 4 for clean true ending run.

Post-true-ending gallery cleanup can continue on clear save without Slot 5 — only crisis branches need laboratory slot discipline.

Save point guide last updated June 2026 aligned with Steam Cloud behavior and lodging save availability on launch build.

Ending Achievement Matrix

Goal	Start From Slot
True ending first attempt	Slot 4 pre-crisis, low exposure
Bad ending trophy	Slot 5 crisis lab, high exposure branch
Standard ending	Slot 4 reload, moderate choices
Bad-event gallery CG	Slot 3 pre-banquet or Slot 5 lab
Post-ending cleanup	Clear save after any ending

Overwrite Slot 5 freely; never overwrite Slot 4 until matrix rows complete.

Recovering From Save Mistakes

If you overwrote pre-crisis save accidentally, rollback to pre-banquet Slot 3 and replay mid-game — painful but shorter than full rerun. Steam Cloud may retain older files on other devices if sync lagged — check before accepting loss.

No in-game save slot manager beyond lodging list — PC users can backup save folder externally before crisis week if paranoid about mis-clicks.

Slot Maintenance Schedule

Update Slot 1 only during tutorial experiments — overwrite freely before Day 5. Update Slot 2 at Early Game milestones — witness chain complete, third companion registered. Refresh Slot 3 only if repeating banquet experiments without touching later progress. Never refresh Slot 4 until ending matrix complete.

Document slot contents in a paper or text note outside game — HILLS does not show slot timestamps in UI, making week-old saves ambiguous after marathon sessions.

Steam Cloud sync after intentionally writing Slot 4 pre-crisis preserves insurance copy if local SSD fails mid crisis week — sync before countdown start recommended.

New Game vs Continue Clarification

HILLS does not feature traditional new game plus stat carry — "continue" after ending uses clear save state preserving gallery and achievements while allowing district backtracking. Starting brand new game wipes progress — only do this after 100% or for challenge runs without reload slots.

Achievement hunters finishing 100% on one Steam account need not start new game for missed endings if Save Points discipline was maintained — reload branches cover ending variety.

Document which physical save slot number maps to Slot 4 pre-crisis in your lodging list — players with dozens of saves lose track and overwrite critical branches accidentally during long sessions.

Clear Save After Endings

Clear save after any ending preserves gallery and achievements while allowing district backtracking for discovery trophies — distinct from Slot 4 reload which rewinds narrative to pre-crisis. Use clear save for cleanup; use Slot 4 for alternate ending attempts from scratch narratively.

Do not clear save before noting which achievements unlocked — Steam overlay snapshot helps avoid redundant reload work when achievement popup timing lags behind credits.

Slot 4 pre-crisis save is the community default "true ending attempt" anchor — name it explicitly in lodging save list the moment mid-game final fight briefing completes before countdown activation cutscene.

Bad ending achievement hunters keep Slot 5 permanently until trophy pops — overwriting Slot 5 before bad ending attempt forces replay of entire crisis week from Slot 4.

Save Points page updated June 2026 — aligns with Steam Cloud single-player save behavior documented on Release hub. Five named slots cover all achievement routing needs.

Before deleting any save, confirm Steam achievements synced — offline mode delays pop timing and confuses which branch already cleared trophies. Save Points updated June 2026 for all twenty-five achievements on Windows PC retail build verified.

Slot 1 through Slot 5 naming convention used throughout this wiki matches community launch-week guides for consistency across all ending routes and achievement types on PC Steam June 2026 release at launch.