Hi Anthony, I purchased this game a couple days ago and only just now managed to start playing today. Unfortunately, I can't seem to "Press A to advance dialogue" after starting a new file. I'm using Index Controllers; perhaps this was something you haven't managed to test against? I used the OpenVR Bindings Menu to bind both of the A face buttons, but it still doesn't seem to pick it up.
I understand this might be a non-trivial ask, but I wouldn't suppose you might be able to convert the control schema to the "new" setup using the SteamVR Input System? It _should_ have support for Oculus, Vive, and Index controllers.