I created a profile, created a character, and started DOS2 (Definitive Edition). I played for several hours, getting to Fort Joy and adding the Red Prince and Fane to my party. Several saves were made along the way, automatic, fast saves, and at least two named saves. I quite for the night. Today, I started DOS2, but my only option was to start a new game! Clicking continue under Story did nothing. I found no option to load any of the saves!

I really hate having to start over again, but would hate more if the same thing were to happen again. What's going on?

I did some research and discovered the problem: the saves were in the wrong location. As others might run into this issue, a brief description and the solution may be helpful.

I am running Win 7, so the situation for Win 10 may be slightly different. DOS2 Definitive Edition saves are stored in: Documents/My Documents/Larain Studios/Divinity Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition/PlayerProfiles/(player profile name)/Savegames/Story.

If I clicked on PROFILES in the DOS2 Main Menu, I would see a panel with the name "Vince" selected (in red). The name was proceeded with a diamond symbol. Below it was "Debug_Client_Profile_1". This name was not proceeded with a diamond symbol. Although I could select it (so the name turned red), when I exited back to the Main Menu, the profile listed remained "Vince". In looking at the saved game directories, I discovered that all the saves were under the profile name "Debug_Client_Profile_1", with none under the profile name "Vince".

So, in the saved games directories, I changed the name "Vince" to something else, and changed the profile name "Debug_Client_Profile_1" to "Vince". That worked.