The only way I see myself ever giving it another go is if I manage to get into my NixOS setup for easy replication or something, too much manual tweaking otherwise.
The compromise I arrived at after I migrated to Linux was booting windows off a VHD file on a USB SSD when I really need it. That way I get a portable, fully performant install without it wasting any disk space or messing with my partitions.
Adding to what others have already said, might be worth checking if Lutris has the game on their database, as it often comes with fixes that way. Even if it doesn’t, it’s definitely easier to manage the prefix and everything else later on if you install the games through it. Bottles is another option, although more minimalist.