Found a spot where you can get out with cat form. More info in the video descriptions. Short version is you can access Royal Tomb, UFO and Snowy Mountain and the entire area around the outside of the town but events will not trigger until quests are active as far as I can tell. You can still gain access to shrines in these areas. Hope someone can make use of this.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXU-ANzr6wNeH_GBoRiTh6-flDzA_thNS