Hello Dear Aurionics,
The team has worked to make the beginning in the game faster.
For those who don't like reading ːsteammockingː, you can now directly go to the wedding when the game starts, and so avoid the long griot talk about the story of Zama.
Just go to the palace to the left after the garden.
About the loading problem, when you will go out of Figuil, the game loading will be faster since the mapping is more optimised.
Thanks for your feedbacks and the passion you share with us.