I have not been able to play this game at all, I'm starting to feel like my game is different.

I'm trying to find out how to do a manual save. According to the internet there should be a simple menu visible
when pausing the game. Does anyone here see where this menu is supposed to be?

This is what I see when I press "start" (see attachment).
I am playing with a playstation controller.

https://ibb.co/c2N4tV9

When you press escape

This menu should pop up

there is a button ( i mean F6 on pc for fast save or press esc then there is a option (load/save/exit)

You're playing on PC right?

Because the screen you show is the overview and is on the letter i for me

i is overview, escape is the actual pause menu with the save options

Press the other small button "share" that used to be called Select