The main character has his own name, backstory, and distinct motivations. Whatever gave you the impression that he was ever meant to be the player incarnate? And why is it as a failing on the game's part that that's not the case?
I love it when people who missed the point of my comment get angry at me for supposedly missing the point. You're thinking about blank slate characters and that's not what I was talking about here at all.
Also, I think you are mistaking player incarnate and viewer incarnate, which are two completely different things from different types of media that serve different purposes.
In any interactive media, the protagonist is, by definition, player incarnate, literally - you are in control of the character.
And it's great that the protagonist of this VN has a backstory and his own character.
BUT
He is not accepting player's inputs. They are not his. He does not believe in the choices the player makes. He is half-assing the actions that are supposed to be made by his own choice. It undercuts the player agenda and the whole point of interactivity.
Because when you decide to do something - you don't maybe kinda try to do it, you just do it. But the protagonist of this VN doesn't freaking care about completing anything he supposedly decided to complete, unless he is actively being electrocuted. So your choices barely matter. And it sucks! And I'm annoyed that more people aren't annoyed at this.
I'm so tired of people praising mediocre VNs just because they have good furry art.
Your second-to-last paragraph sums up your problem with PN. You can't stand Garret's character because he's a reluctant protag. That's fair enough, but it doesn't make PN a mediocre VN.
The MC makes it clear from the beginning that he doesn't want to be there, but feels he has to for his mom. He really, really hates confrontations but also wants to do the right thing. He's constantly conflicted and isn't enthusiastic about any of the choices he makes up to this point.
As you noted, the one exception is when he can fall back into his professional identity during the electrical crisis. Then he's calmly assertive and decisive.
Garret is a really well-written reluctant protag, and I enjoy tagging along with him and trying to figure him out, at most nudging the reluctant wolf one way or another. I understand not being able to stand this sort of character, but that doesn't make the VN mediocre.
Oh my, you're right! I thought about this for a couple of minutes and realized I do hate reluctant protagonists. Not just in VNs, but generally, in media - they turn any plot into a slog because they just won't do what needs to be done.
And it's especially hard on me with interactive media, as the reluctant protagonist makes it less interactive by their hesitation to do anything.
Nicely spotted, I should have realized this myself!
Though I still think it holds the VN back quite a bit and I'm confident it would have been better with a protagonist who isn't hoping to coast through the plot. Maybe he'll grow as a character later on, I guess we'll see :p
I thought about this some more, since I think I normally wouldn't like reluctant protagonists either. I relate easily to Garret because I can see why he's so conflicted. He's torn between family duty to give his sick and not-entirely rational mother some peace, his own opinion that the expedition is pointless, and his justified hatred for his brother. He feels stuck in a job he doesn't want.
He's also a walking, furry, deadly weapon, and everyone knows it. Despite his timid nature, even much larger animals regard him as a physical equal and see him as the obvious go-to for the very confrontations he hates so much.
I think the author did an especially good job of using hints and cryptic flashbacks to show why Garret is the way he is. He's seething with repressed rage. He's visibly and lastingly maimed by the same person he's risking his life to follow, for the sake of what sounds like a dysfunctional family relationship. He's more scared of himself than anything.
This is a setup for a really intense character arc, so I think you still might want to keep an eye on the updates.