Progression, saves & missables
How do you restore a damaged Phantom Blade Zero Steam save from a backup?
Exit the game and back up the entire save folder first. Restore a .sav backup older than the damaged PBZSaveGame.sav. Load and check it, save at a Bell when correct, then wait for Steam Cloud synchronization.
Locate and preserve the original files
In Steam Library, right-click the game and choose Manage → Browse local files. Saves are under ProjectPBZ\Saved\SaveGames\Steam\your-Steam-ID\ inside the game folder.
Copy the entire save directory elsewhere. Move the damaged PBZSaveGame.sav out of the working folder and preserve it so the only copy is not overwritten.
Restore, check and synchronize
Find a backup predating the damage in the 1RealTime subfolder. Copy it into the Steam ID directory and rename it PBZSaveGame.sav, ensuring the .sav extension is not duplicated.
Choose Load Game and check the character and progress. Only then save at a Bell, exit and wait for cloud synchronization, preserving the untouched backup.