P'shaw, just look at the game, scene-by-scene. You start in a bar. Your history is unimportant. You're not doing anything important. You're waiting around with everyone else in town for a storm to pass. At the same time, Cait is out having a scuffle with cultists and establishing motivation. She loses her sister, shows up asking for help, we volunteer, and we're giiiven our first weapon, which says that we weren't an adventurer waiting around for a quest here as we were unarmed, this is the point where we became one. Shucks, Cait had the sense to travel with a weapon, at least. I guess we had no intention of travelling, either? There for the long-haul, looking for a job as a lumberjack, maybe?
Cait has all the motivation here. She's asking questions as we down cultists, and when we confront the cult's leader, she's the one with the dramatic back-and-forth. We get noticed at the very end, and he doesn't even wait long enough for a name before he dismisses us entirely. You win, you fail to save the sister, Cait has the dramatic scenes, you comfort her- then Kas happens after the two of you seperate. You're knocked out cold for days, Cait continues exploring town, talking to NPCs, asking questions, investigating leads, delivering pups, and tending to you. You wake up, 'you missed a lot', you inform them of the demon, everyone has their own motivations to pursue her- yours are left.. Kind of weird and vague, 'she might come back for your soul'. What, more-so than anyone else, she'd specifically target your soul, because of a throw-away line she gave you before you blacked out about how you should hang onto your soul so she can have it some day? Alright. When you go to recruit Cait, she turns the tables, and ends up convincing you to tag along with her and help her find a lead on her sister.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not complainin', just suggesting this might be what has people upset, protagonist or side-kick, the game presents something to do, and something to think about, and that's enough. Though you are right, Kas singles you out a lot, and during your second encounter with them, it feels like they're setting you up for a fall to the dark side. So maybe some day, if the game reaches that point, it'll be you that Cait ends up having to face at the end. That's an exciting thought, that we might be getting groomed to pull some big betrayal. Not many games let you play the role of a slow-burn villain in the making.
As far as content goes though, yeah, that's kind of how games- and reality- works, you see and experience things from your OWN perspective. You don't get to see or experience things from Cait's point of view, or any of the other NPCs, you can only piece things together about what they do with what's being said, or done around you. The only two people I feel recognize the player character as a hero are Garth, and Kas- Garth because he used to be an adventurer playing second-fiddle to his wife, something he keeps dropping 'subtle' clues about in like every other conversation- and Kas because you were there when she came through the gate, and she never even got to meet Cait. Game has to give the player something to do, or it's 'empty'. So we get to build houses for fairies, and find a skirt for a centaur femboy. Everyone's the hero of their own story. Cait does things off-screen which is implied by all the off-screen sex, delivering pups, and investigating leads. Brint's always having a great time, off-screen and on-screen. I'm just saying that as things are set up now, it feels like the universe is pushing Cait as the hero on a mission, and you're there to help her- and maybe some day, stand in her way.
Which doesn't mean your adventure, and experiences aren't valid, just that you're 'not the chosen one'. Which'll only really be felt at the end of the adventure, or during anything that feels 'climactic'. Worst you might have to put up with is Cait getting more lines, Cait getting more attention from potential lovers, or Cait stealing the last hit on someone you just pummeled the daylights out of. I was just suggesting that might be what has some folks so upset with Cait, that she's constantly just there, stealing the show, and making them feel less important, or less desirable.
You're right about the goofy stage-play bit too, though. Savin's writing style is kind of like the rest of him. Hot-headed, hot-blooded, 'to the point', with really strong feelings about a lot of things that he takes very vocal stances on. Moral stuff, mostly. Some really out of place stuff here and there, and he doesn't do subtlety. Punchin' wargs, m'ah dude.
I'unno, maybe I'm putting way more thought into this than Savin, and the reality is he just has an obsession with the characters he produces. I think I would probably end up being a little upset if it turned out that there wasn't any thought put in, and I was just playing through someone's fan-fics about their 'super sexy OCs being awesome' in disguise. I'd like to believe there's some kind of greater narrative here.
