The recent patch fixed some of my issues. I get better frames, the areas load in, and I don't fall through the map any more. Most importantly, I finally got Torrent! I couldn't before the patch, the Site of Grace that is tied to the cutscene where you get him wouldn't let me touch it.
The only thing wrong is that most enemies are still invisible. And most NPC's are invisible. And Torrent is invisible:
I swear I'm on a horse right now, I'm not just jackin' it in San Diego.
That being said, I said "Fuck it" and did what I was gonna do anyway: completely ignore the main objective and start exploring. Holy shit do I have so much freedom. I can't see any of the threats on the map, or a lot of the animals, so the world feels really empty, but even though I can't see the threats, Torrent runs fast enough to let me outrun absolutely everything, and this lets me see the huge, awesome world largely unmolested. I managed to jump over a ravine and got into a section of the map I obviously wasn't meant to be in yet. Tried going into these little dungeons that are littered all over, turn around flee from those dungeons after getting my shit shoved in by invisible stone gremlins.
I found several side quests that I promptly ignored because fuck it, I'm exploring. I found an elevator that deposited my ass into this awesome underground cavern. I just barely manage to make my way through it and luckily had a Stonesward key to activate another elevator... that leads into a place that looks like hell on earth. Holy shit. I seriously fucked up when I found an NPC that was telling me about another sidequest about a nearby town, but a giant ass doggy followed me to his hut and killed him. I really don't like fucking myself out of content like that, but oh well, I hope he wasn't important. He said he was a sage, but he wasn't very smart to be living next to the scariest doggo ever in a ramshackle hut. I'm only level 5, I have a handaxe and no armor whatsoever, and I can't hurt shit in this evil-ass land.
I feel I've uncovered a majority of the map already, and I can't wait for the game to be patched so I can actually see the enemies I need to kill, so I can actually progress along the intended storyline.