Glad you’re liking it!
There’s a lot of needless worry over Proton. I simply do not understand why.
It’s not like rolling back BIOS or installing outdated drivers because the new ones break everything, etc.
Check out these:
Users often (not always) post their working Proton version for any particular game on ProtonDB. There’s even a Decky plugin for ProtonDB so you don’t have to leave gaming mode.
Install ProtonUp-QT from the Discover Store and it’ll scan the games you have on your Deck and recommend which version to use, if that game is in ProtonUP-QT’s database.
And for any itch dot io game, just always use GE. It’s a miracle. You’ll find many useful tools along the way and yes, Linux is the only way to go, IMO.
I don’t sound old, I am old. Remember Wang?
Never played games on a pc or phone etc. The Deck opened up a whole new world of games and getting away from console brain was liberating.