I just figured I’d make a post to warn any future buyers that this game MAY simply not work, even with all the tips and tricks available. After spending about half a day trying everything suggested on PCGamingWiki, Steam forums for the game, GOG forums, and basic Google searches for the issues, nothing worked to get past the loading screen before reaching the main menu.

It seems Intel CPU's have this issue, in case someone sees this and has a similar CPU as below that might have worked for them—and hopefully, they’d be willing to share what they did:

CPU: i7-8700K

I’ve already requested a refund but thought I’d make this post in case someone comes up with a new solution that could get it working before it’s removed from my account.

I too, have asked for a refund, i7-4930k here, it hates hyperthreading from Intel for some reason. I don't want to turn it on and off everytime I game with one title, & furthermore it may not solve the issue entirely, so that's why I asked for my refund.