jemikwa

It's unlikely but if she wants Japanese riichi mahjong and not solitaire style, Kemono Mahjong is a really solid app. No ads or micro transactions (the only in app purchase is to optionally support the dev for $1/month), full feature, minimal to no tracking (email address for online game purposes). It's not open source or free but it's only $3 one time purchase.

I don't have any suggestions for solitaire/tile matching mahjong, unfortunately. Microsoft's app is not malware but will be datamine galore. It also has ads unless you pay per month. Anything else, id be leery of the security of the app and your data.

I've used HyperX's Alloy Elite for a few years now and it's still going strong: https://hyperx.com/collections/keyboards-mice/products/hyperx-alloy-elite-2-mechanical-gaming-keyboard?variant=41031691468957.

Has most of the features you're looking for. One thing is Linux - I'm not sure if it has "Linux" support like you're looking for, but it does work like a normal keyboard on Linux. I've never used macros or any customizing features for it on Windows, and thus don't use anything like that on Linux either. Media controls work perfectly fine on Linux.
The other concern is hot swapping switches - I've never done that either, I have stuck with my brown switches since I got it. Only real customizing I've done is to change the keycaps to pudding style.

It makes sense, especially with the direction Remake started to go. And the original Crisis Core was getting to be very dated by now, so a refresh was welcome

Thanks for your reply! Those are all really good points and I range from agreeing completely or understanding wholeheartedly why you feel the way you do about the issue.

Japan's approach to romance tropes, especially with school age people, is problematic at best. Maybe as a teen I would have fallen head over heels for it and loved most of it (except Kawakami's plot, yuck), but I definitely had to mentally distance myself from it because it felt weird to even interact with as an adult. At least most of them progress as friends and only turn into relationships at the end (most... bleh). I don't even remember which romance I might have picked for the final companion step, maybe I skipped the commitment altogether. A part of me fully expects P6 to do something similar and I'm less enthusiastic about that part of the game as a result.

I never thought of the UI being difficult to read and concentrate with, but I totally get it now that you've mentioned it. There were definitely times I had a harder time navigating menus because of how much the background moved during transitions. The design itself was committed in every aspect, but the devs could have done more to normalize some of the text or add options to tweak the animations to be less dizzying while still being visually diverse.

I need to try P3 and P4 still, they are in my backlog and I never feel the initiative to start one of them. Your remark about P5 dumbing down some of the features of those games is a little inspiring because I did like the combat and options from P5. If it's even better in past games, I may like those even more.

Android Auto is a specific system that mirrors app contents from your phone. It's basically an extended monitor for your phone with specific formatting to be car usage friendly. It doesn't do anything about a car's embedded systems

Sure, I'm curious what your opinions are on it! I enjoyed it quite a bit, but I can already think of parts people might not like. I'm not one of those rabid fans that will defend it religiously, it's by no means a perfect game.

I used to avoid turn based for the same sentiment, but have found some really compelling games that change the formula that have changed my mind. Not every game will be a winner, but there are still some good ones out there.

Strict turn based used to always seem simple to me, and I don't find it appealing all the time. Pokemon has unit variety, but the strictness of each turn can get really stale.

Games that improve turn based combat are my preference in this category. Persona 5 changes the flow of combat depending on how each unit/character performs and exploits type weaknesses (chain/group attacks). It also takes Pokemon typing and unit diversity and makes a cool fusion/inheritance system out of it.
Older Final Fantasy games with Active Time Battle also scratch this itch where the timing of using skills and specific character order still somewhat matters, you don't always mash A and spam abilities. FF also does really well with unit customization - materia, GFs, Sphere Grid, etc. mean consecutive playthroughs won't always feel the same.
Chrono Trigger takes ATB and adds geometry in a physical dimension to attacks which is really unique, but still feels turn based at its core.

Like you said, full tactical games are fine because the quantity of units or structure of the arena make the turn based mode interesting. BG3/Divinity, Fire Emblem, Triangle Strategy/FF Tactics, and Gloomhaven fall in this category and I love games like these.

I realize now I kinda hit the points in the article, oops. Sorry if this was repetitive lol

"Late rising" being the horrible hour of 9am.
Seriously why can't hotel breakfast go until 10 or 11. It's not that good anyways, but God forbid people eat it at a reasonable hour. At least let the shelf stable items be used if there's temp concerns.
Thanks The Onion for hitting it right where it hurts.

This is a mod for Slay the Spire, not the game itself. You're still free to buy it, a lot of people enjoy it, but the mod devs won't get anything

I had the same thought. There are countless romhacks of games that have lived for years. So long as the game isn't a direct rip of the original that largely plays the same (thinking of that Link's Awakening upgrade that was taken down a few weeks ago), it should survive.
Even then, there are Pokemon improvement hacks that are still surviving. It's probably because the original game is not a part of the download and you patch it over a ROM you supply yourself.

Even better if you can get into a family plan with friends

Robit, mimicking how Zoidberg calls Bender sometimes