First of all this looks great!

Congrats to the team!
1) I'd probably ask the players if they want it to be on or off when they click on "New game" rather than having the switch in the options menu. Other than that, what happens if I click on something when the game suggested me how to explore the environment"? In other words is the hotspot\objects interaction disabled in that stage?

2) I love stuff like the action popups a lot, but probably they break the immersion a little? I mean, I guess that if the game was set in some sort of virtual reality it would fit very nicely.
Still, I'd probably leave it just for stuff that usually is not that obvious, like "Kyle picked up the flashlight". Usually the inventory is what I get most bad feedback about, that's why I'm telling you

3) I don't really mind, but
beware of "info dumps"! Try to spread the information about the character(s) in smaller bits and pieces through environmental storytelling and\or other well placed occasions

I'm guilty of info dumps a lot, by the way

4) I like the UI as well as the character dialog closeups! The only thing I'm not sure about is the mouse icon, the one with the red and blue buttons, whenever you are hovering a hotspot. Is it context-based, meaning that it only shows what you can actually click (some hotspots may only be examined but not used, for instance)?
Keep up the good work, this is looking great!