Just realized something great

[Falcon]

I knew that the house changes over time and how good you did.
But it feels really good seeing how nice the house gets after each new mission.
You start out in a pigsty with very little actual food, papers plates and garbage thrown about, and even your bedroom and man cave look bad.
But after perfecting 5 missions, the house looks great. Food in the fridge and counters. Tools on an actual shelf and not thrown around, the rooms getting redecorated. And the piece that makes it all better, is the cabinet that displays something that relates to the missions. Like the weed plant, picture of the cat, or a can of pineapples that made up half a safe.
The progression in this game is terrific, and I actual want to playthrough it again just to see the gradual change once more.

[Duneman]

You even get an extra mannequin in your basement; which may or may not be an SCP-style entity with its own will.

[Falcon]

Yeah, right after the haunted house.
Those things eyes are definitely looking at you. Kinda expect it to attack me sometimes.

[Mandrake42]

You know, its weird as what I came here just now to post was "Why is your house such a mess, I want to clean it up!!", then I saw your post. I am going to pay attention to the house after each mission now to see what I notice.

[Wolfebane]

I wonder what happens if you do each mission at zero. Is that possible to "go through" the story doing basically nothing? Does the house just get worse and worse?

[Nyu]

Originally posted by Wolfebane:

I wonder what happens if you do each mission at zero. Is that possible to "go through" the story doing basically nothing? Does the house just get worse and worse?

u cannot end a mission without reaching a min value. around 80
it just sends you back right before leaving if you dont reach it.

[Falcon]

Originally posted by Mandrake42:

You know, its weird as what I came here just now to post was "Why is your house such a mess, I want to clean it up!!", then I saw your post. I am going to pay attention to the house after each mission now to see what I notice.

That's what I said too!
We're a cleaner? Why is are home a mess!

[Duneman]

To answer why the home is a mess: first Kovalsky's wife died about 5 years prior to the story, then Elena gets sick with a long term illness, with the story being set in the US that means she needs tens of thousands of dollars worth of medical treatments that he has to pay for himself on a school janitor's salary(which he cannot do), his attempts to get a raise at work or take out loans have all been rejected, and now despite all his frantic efforts the medical group has informed him that without payment they will simply cease Elena's treatment, so he's about to lose his daughter too.

TL/DR: he doesn't have time for that 💩

[Falcon]

I get that it is because of stress and everything, Plus having no money (We didn't even have real food in the beginning)
But it still felt Ironic that we are a cleaner, and our house is a total wreck.
(Still love him as a character, he is very witty but not over the top. Actually sounds like a person trying to just do their job. Better than being a silent protag.)

[Chaoslady97]

If we're doing all of this for our daughter then why always slowly packing away her room

[Falcon]

Originally posted by Chaoslady97:

If we're doing all of this for our daughter then why always slowly packing away her room

He's packing it away so he can clean it up and refurnish.
At the end of the current missions, you'll see the room looks a lot nicer then it did at the start of the game. He just had to move her stuff around so he can clean the room properly.

[inovade]

didnt know that, i just play and change mission each time
he still using candles !!!

[Vagrant]

This is a cool feature but I would have done things differently.

About halfway through the game, I would have made his apartment messier, which would have reflected his psyche. His wife is dead, his daughter is sick and he's in deep trouble with crime syndicates.

Like, exactly when Kovalsky starts renovating his daughter's room and her bed disappears would be when the decline would start.

Opened bottles of booze everywhere, some shattered on the floor and walls. Opened bags of drugs that he finds along his missions. Displaced furnitures. Stains everywhere. The whole damn thing.

By the time we received the final mission, we get an email from his daughter saying she's getting better and coming home soon.

The 11th final mission could have been Kovalsky cleaning up his own apartment. No dead bodies or blood, just a whole-ass mess.

Overall, I wish we had more interaction with Kovalsky's apartment itself. Us players are more likely to get Perfect Score in every mission, so if there is some changes regarding Mission Score, I bet not many saw it.

[Falcon]

I disagree, him cleaning up the house and getting a better lifestyle is reflected throughout the game which shows that he finally getting himself financially secured.

He cleans his Daughters room, his own room, and even completes the man cave in the basement, not to mention how nice the living room becomes.

To go through your path would make it feel like those who complete 100% of maps are unrewarded, and would only make sense if we were told that our daughter was dying, which would make Kovalsky lose the only reason to try.

Kovalsky also isn't in trouble with any crime syndicates. Sure, he works with them, but he has done nothing to warrant their ire unless he fails to clean up any evidence that causes them to be arrested.

He was in trouble with the hospital since he couldn't afford his daughter's medical fees and his issuance wouldn't cover it. There has been no indication that he is in any trouble with any criminals, and that's thanks to him being a very reliable cleaner,

I do agree that I wish we saw more apartment interactions, or if getting perfects were displayed more. I loved getting all the random objects and objectives, and wish we had a side bar on the computer that should a money target goal that shows why we are trying to perfect every mission.