An update on this: I was able to greatly mitigate the problem by running the game through gamescope. This seems to work for most games presenting the same issue. It's not completely impossible for crashes to happen, but much rarer.
Have you tried Proton Experimental Bleeding Edge?
proton experimentalx2 2026-07
Compatibility Report
System Information
I confirm:
Symptoms
When loading into the game, especially after loading a save, it uses a lot of VRAM. If it surpasses the system limit, the window surface stops updating. This is consistent with the behaviour I observe in other 3d unity games.
Reproduction
Just open the game / load a save. If monitoring with the steam overlay, you will see VRAM climb until close to the system total.