Sam Lake’s comments about longer games

Edwin Evans-Thirlwell for Rock Paper Shotgun:

[Lake] himself has difficulty setting aside hours for longer games. “[It’s] just struggling with finding time and you know, being interested in a story, wanting to see it through,” he said. “So it can even be daunting at times to start playing a game that you know is really, really long.”

I can definitely relate to this.

On numerous occasions while booting up Starfield I’ve felt that, while the game is good, it’s almost too massive for me to really dig into. I know I won’t get around to many side missions because I’ll be burnt out from the main quest and wanting to move on to something else in my backlog.

Comments like Lake’s are interesting coming from Remedy as they’re an example of a studio that produces tightly written, well-paced games that never overstay their welcome. I’m hoping that doesn’t change with Alan Wake 2, despite the noted 20-hour-plus playtime.