Game Won't Launch (Steam)

Hello!

On installation and first launch a few of the usual dialogue boxes popped up "Installing .net framework" and ended with something along the lines of "Installing msiexec". It seemed to hang up on the last part and eventually closed or crashed. After running the game a few more times with the same boxes popping up, I stopped getting dialogue altogether and now the game just crashes before anything opens.

I've tried going into the local files and running the XNA framework installer as well as the included .net installer. dotNet informs me that I already have a newer version installed. Do I NEED 4.0 or are the newer ones okay? XNA gives me an error message that xnavisualizer.dll was unable to be registered. Googling the error message returned people having a similar problem with other games but, frustratingly, no solutions.

I've made sure my drivers and windows are fully updates, tried running in safe mode, uninstalling and reinstalling the game. Nothing is working so far. One clue that I can't figure out how to act on is that despite telling me .net is installed, it is NOT listed under the uninstall programs list so I can't try uninstalling and reinstalling it. What should I do??

Thanks!!
Joe