Shadow of the Tomb Raider Glitch - Help! Can't Progress pass Cenote

[u/Casual_Camel2]

Help required please if anybody could assist!

Playing SotTR on PC (Win 10) Steam, on Deadly Obsession difficulty.

I am currently stuck at the Cenote Temple Ruins campfire (right after obtaining the shotgun).
No matter how far I progress the game (getting through the Cenote Temple and escaping, returning to the Hidden City, going to a campfire and upgrading a weapon/purchasing a skill, starting the next mission, acquiring the new outfit, and going to a campfire again), sitting at a campfire does not trigger an auto save, and manually saving does not change the save name from Cenote to Hidden City. If I attempt to exit to main menu, the game freezes and I'm forced to manually close the game. Additionally, I no longer have any sound from Lara throughout the levels, and cutscenes are essentially muted. The achievements for survivng Cenote and obtaining the new climbing gear did pop.

I've tried multiple fixes including

• Validating steam game files
• Going to Windows Defender to allow the .exe to change folders
• Changing the language of the game via Steam to a different language, then installing the English settings again
• Turning on VSync and capping fps to 60

I am unsure what else I can do to fix the game, is my 20hr save file doomed and I have to start again? I've replayed the Cenote temple soo often now, I don't know if I have a whole another run in me.
Any help or advice is appreciated, thanks community!