Windows 11 Home 64 - This is much better than Windows S mode
AMD Athlon Gold Processor 315 OU (2.4Ghz) AMD Radeon Graphics - Towards the low/middle end for CPU/Graphics
8GG RAM - This is minimum you need RAM
17.3in monitor - huge monitor
256 GB hard drive - SSD?
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Bottom line - this is a good starter laptop and if he gets 3-4 years out of it then great. CPU/Graphics are on the low end but he should able to play what he needs.
17.3" monitor is pretty big IMO - did he want that size? If not, one option is to look for 15.4" screen and see if tradeoff is a beefier CPU/graphics.