In the base, each menu for different things is accessed by talking to the different characters. The upgrades menu is accessed by talking to the second character going left from the main doors. This is a man sitting sharpening a spear with a weapons rack next to him. Pressing 'A' on your controller, or 'X' if using a DS4 enters the upgrades menu.

The first screen shows 3 boxes. The top box is your current weapon, pressing 'A' enters a menu allowing you to select any other weapons you have unlocked. Some weapons are more useful for different levels so you might want to swap between missions.

The second (middle) box shows what item you have currently equipped that provides bonuses.

The third (bottom) box shows what boots you are currently wearing.

You unlock upgrades by completing missions, I can't remember if you have to earn coins to buy each upgrade, been a while since I played it.

Pressing 'A' on each box enters the selection menu.

Weapons Menu, weapons are from top to bottom:
Oak Pole: A basic pole with a red ribbon at one end. Critical hits stun enemies
Forest Rage: A chan dao or monk spade, has a large flat curved blade at one end, a crescent shaped blade at the other. Using Qi restores health.
Fisherman's Pole: A basic bamboo staff. Attack speed increases as the combo counter increases (25% max)
Singed Dragon: Staff with a large curved blade at one end, the inside of the blade has a jagged edge. Typhoon and Rockfall inflict additional fire damage on enemies and surrounding foes
Staff Of Abbott Shuo: Plain wooden shaft with ornate iron shod ends. Casting each seal inflicts 10 points of damage to the enemy. Seal creation +25%
Jade Cliff: Wooden shaft with jade crystal blades at each end. Ghost Aura. Every killed enemy recovers Qi within the aura radius. Ghosts are always corporeal. This is the weapon to use if you're struggling fighting ghosts or spirits.
Jingu Bang: Red and gold staff, each end is shaped like a fist. Increases the strike distance of all staffs by a third
Swamp Claw: A basic spear with red tassels hanging from it. Loaded thrusts poison enemy
Icy Ruin: A navy blue shaft with a curved steel blade at one end. Slows down enemies by 5% per strike (35% max)
Three Steel Widows: A wooden shaft ending in a straight steel blade. Two more blades extend from the blade at 90 degrees to form a cross shape, giving the weapon it's name. Critical hits inflict bleeding.

Items Menu:
18 Arhats: A golden bead necklace. Increases the maximum quantity of Qi by 1.
36 Shaolin Beads: A thick beaded bracelet. Successful parries and received damage regenerate Qi.
108 Passions: A beaded necklace. Passive energy regeneration.
Black Rhino Vambraces: Ornate bracers. Defence + 20%. Additionally, damage is reduced by 20% when attempting to parry powerful attacks.

Boots Menu:
Monk Shoes: Plain yellow shoes. Kick and Gust inflict 20% damage. Dodge inflicts 25% damage.
Sandals Of Nimble Zhe: Plain brown sandals. Increases run and jump speed.
Black Rhino Vambraces: Ornate greaves. Defense + 20%. Dodge, Kick and Burst deflect projectiles.
Golden Putees: Grey boots with golden criss-crossed lacing. Dodge is replaced by Power Dash, which passes through any enemy and bestows invincibility.

Press 'A' to make your selection then go to the bottom of each menu to go back to previous menu showing the 3 items you have equipped, go  to the bottom and press 'A' again to save your selection and exit.

Alternatively, once you make your selection pressing 'A' you can exit to previous menu by pressing 'B' and then 'B' again to leave the upgrades menu.

@78 Not a problem.

Ok Here goes . . . .

I turned the music off to listen to the player's footsteps.
When You first enter the Hub area you stand in front of the double doors, these open when a mission is selected. Going clockwise moving right, about 2 footsteps running, the first character is Zongfei who teaches you fighting techniques. At certain times you can access your skill tree menus to choose new moves as you level up.
The next character, about 3 running footsteps from Zongfei is unnamed but pressing 'A' opens the Co-op Mode Menu.
Keep going about 2 running footsteps and just before you reach 2 monks sparring with fists, there is a set of stairs under a lamp. Small statues are arranged on them, here you can access secrets you've unlocked in the Secrets Menu.
If you keep going right but suddenly stop, the 2 monks sparring are blocking you, move down slightly and keep going. About 6 running footsteps further is the weapons smith, he allows access to weapons, items and boots upgrades as I described previously.
Running 6 more footsteps further will bring you to Xuanpai the strategist. He is stood over a table looking at a large map stretched out over it. Pressing 'A' enters the quest selection menu. Running 2 more steps right takes you back to the main doors.

Keep in mind that the hub area is circular so as you move right, you'll occasionally need to move slightly down as well.

@JasonBlaze, no I'm sighted, but yes I've beaten the game. If I can help in any way let me know.

yeah, I did. rain with thunder and stuff, right?

My question is, does anyone know if this can be modded on Steam the way we did with Hades?  If so, I wouldn't mind buying it and taking a look at possible mod development for accessibility improvements, even though fighting games as a rule aren't my cup of tea; I prefer games with an actual storyline to them, where the fighting is to achieve an actual goal.  I'd do it for others who seem to love this sort of thing, though, if it's possible.

@Graeme: Wow. Thanks for those epic descriptions.

I have another question about the controls. For me it's a combination of mouse and keyboard. Would that change if I start the computer without a mouse?

At the moment i am struggling with the room with the monks. I think, the footsteps dont exactly stop on walls or something like that.

Has anyone tried to see if there is a configuration file somewhere that we can edit?

Ok, I'm going to assume that the silence re my question as to modding capability means that it's not possible.

Health items are hidden in crates at the top and bottom edges of the play area, you smash them open and then have to press RB to pick up, don't know why the game dev's didn't allow for auto-collect or make it an option. The area you're in is a saw mill, there's circular saws running back and forth that really sap your health. There's sets of horizontal blades and a set of vertical running blades. At some point I'll try and find a way to help you work out where they are.

The game is currently 55% off on Steam, or 87% off on CD Keys.

Note, if you buy on CD Keys, the Steam code you receive will be in the form of an image.

Still on chapter 2, stuck in the saw mill. Can't avoid the blades and the amount of enemies onscreen at the same time. Litterally killing me. lol

still stuck on the boss, too. lol.