But once you leave Steam […] it gets a lot worse

Heroic Games Launcher is pretty great for games from GOG and Epic. You can run games with Proton just fine.

I’m planning to buy this game this weekend. There’s a community mod for it that brings it up to date with enhanced graphics, QoL fixes and VR support - https://www.xwaupgrade.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=13107

Only a couple of quid on GOG right now - https://www.gog.com/en/game/star_wars_xwing_alliance