So I've tried every solution I've come across and I still can't figure this out.

I'm running windows 8.1, with intel i5 3.5ghz processor, and a nvidia gforce 970 graphics card

I played on this pc two days ago and I'm having this issue again. I also have no mods and its the steam version of the game.

So what happens is that no matter which save I try to load, the game crashes after the load. I've tried making a new game, the intro cutscene loads but then it crashes as soon as the game tries to load.

I've tried disabling vsync. I've tried deleting the .ini files and running the verify game integrity with no success. I've tried running a clean boot and found no conflicting issues. I reinstalled the game last time and it didn't fix the problem. I've tried renaming the sound and music folders and that didn't help. Last time there was a conflict with one of the programs I had but the clean boot disabled that so there was no reason for it to crash this time. I can't figure this problem out and I've been bashing my head into the wall over it for days. And I've checked, the game is running off of my nvidia card and not my processor's built in chip. I've tried the basic restart your computer and that didn't fix it. I've tried disabling all dlc. No dice.

I don't know what else to try but I'm getting incredibly frustrated with this problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT:: also tried running in compatibility mode for windows XP service pack 3, as well as running on lowest quality settings and trying windowed mode.