Yeah, to be fair, I think it does have a lot to do with the pacing, since by the time she joins, the game's mostly over; you'd kind of have to rush to the December end date (although this could've been solved by just adding an extra month to the game) and since a detective joined, it'd kind of make sense for the mystery to get easier at this point. That said, it was a group effort before as was noted, with Yukiko and Yosuke contributing the most to discussions (though Yosuke's role is partly being your mouthpiece). Whereas after Naoto joins, she pretty much solves the case almost singlehandedly. I'm not objecting to her being more competent than the others, I'm objecting to the others no longer contributing to the actual investigation and detective work. The group is called the Investigation Team for a reason.
Although I think you've got the mysteries piling up thing backwards. By the time Naoto joins, the pattern of the kidnappings is determined, they know it's not
Mitsuo
the true killer is found is really unsatisfying. It should've involved investigating who was handling the threatening letters, who took Nametame's call, how Mitsuo could've gotten into the TV world when he clearly had no idea what was going on, and other stuff; you know, like actual detective work. Instead it's just you thinking it's maybe Adachi out of the blue and then Naoto determining that it's him through some shaky reasoning (that one-off line when they find Nametame's diary) and it turns out the be right. It's kind of a cop out.
The game really could've used another another month before you finally confronted the killer.
The game really could've used another another month before you finally confronted the killer.
