Going through the article Kat linked on this specific error (thank you, btw, I didn't find this in my own search for whatever reason), I think the issue was with my video card.
I updated from operating system from Windows 8 to Windows 10, but it never occurred to me that the driver for my video card wouldn't be compatible and need to be updated separately.
So I followed the instructions from the other article on updating the driver that was linked in the one Kat posted and so far so good!
Guess I shouldn't have been anticipating a long wait from technical support, since I heard back and their instructions resolved the problem.
Save your work, exit out of any programs that are running
Shut down the computer completely, then reboot
RIGHT-click on the program's desktop icon and choose Run As Administrator
If prompted to associate plan files, click Yes
Once the software is open, close it and try opening it normally to see if you still receive the same warning
These steps are in the article too, but I just hadn't made it that far yet. Anyway, seems to be working fine now, so maybe this can help someone else down the line!
scarletto's post in Assertion failed: An unexpected error occurred was marked as the answer