'Mute' protagonist

[Awiola]

Not mute sensu stricto but the player wouldn't know what they're saying. I found something like that executed in Alice Mare and I've been wondering if it's good to use in vn because honestly, it'll be hard. In RPGs MC doesn't really have to say anything to advance the story because of the mechanics but in vns just skipping someone's lines every time they speak would be strange, to say the least. I thought of using symbols to show they're talking without revealing what it's all about because the other idea [eg. Amnesia - letting other characters describe what is happening and indicating MC really says something and not just sits there thoughtlessly] simply isn't appealing to me.
Why even do this? Cause I'd like to experiment with form, I guess. And I can hide some informations from the player in an easy and efficient way <:
I also thought of making epistolary-ish narration where the player is just some nameless wanderer and explores X [it's abandoned because ? happend] and its history through diaries or anything else they found there. Then the wanderer wouldn't have any lines and it would be perfectly reasonable [be aware that even thoughts wouldn't be written in that case]. The problem is whether anyone would like to play this kind of game.

Well, what are your thoughts on the topic? Do you think there's a chance it would work or it's better to use different medium [like simple RPGs, dunno]? If you have related ideas, they're also welcomed. At this moment I'm simply brainstorming anyway.

[Mutive]

I feel like using symbols to "show" someone talking would frustrate me as a player. (Mostly because it feels like the author is deliberately hiding the dialogue from me.)

The character not saying anything, though, would work for me. (Either because they're alone or because they just don't like talking...although the second could be weird if people keep talking *to* them and they don't respond.) And I could definitely see the protagonist exploring an area through diaries/ruins/whatever else. (I've played games like that before - e.g. Myst - and found some to be excellent. I see no reason as to why this couldn't make for a compelling VN.)