Cant even play games on 60 fps 1080p low settings with previous gen hardware nowadays. Optimizing games? nahhhhh lets just use a upscaler instead and still wont even get 60.
Nobara is probaly a good choice, never used to be but looks good.
Only issue about linux gaming is anti-cheats, like if your friend wants to play valorant, r6, fortnite, or any new call of duty game, hes kinda screwed. You also have games like apex which work now because EAC supports proton, but ever since EA made their own anti cheat, its only a matter of time.
Sometimes id rather use a cracked version of a game even if i own it, just so i dont have to deal with ubisoft's, and EA's horrible launchers. Unless the game gets actively updated or has multiplayer.
star wars rogue sqaudron and star wars episode 1 racer. played the first rogue squadron and racer on the n64, would love to play those games with better graphics
you can use openasar for discord and it gives you the option to not update.