no access to settings + being forced to continued story

So I know a lot of games like that force you through an intro/tutorial before dumping you in a hub area of some variety and giving you access to all the stuff you could possibly want to click on (summons, profile info, etc). More importantly, that hub is usually where you can access all of your game settings.

I just finished the intro scene and am in the suitcase for the first time. I need to configure audio settings and language settings but the game is forcing me to continue the story when I don't want to. It won't let me click on anything else but all the buttons to start the next chapter. I want to be able to enjoy it and not speed through it or skip it just for the chance to be allowed to look at the game settings.

How can I make it stop forcing me to do stuff?

I know it's trying to show me around but I want to explore features on my own time. Even then, it would be more bearable if it didn't disarm access to game settings entirely. I'm playing through Steam and just forced closed the game and opened it again which did nothing and I couldn't access audio settings from the home screen either. If the story segment it's trying to force me through is hours long, I don't think I'll play it which sucks because I've heard good things about the game.

I can move this/repost it to a different thread if needed; this just doesn't seem like a technical bug but rather deliberate design that I'm hoping I can bypass.