Are video games capable of evoking Britcom-style secondhand embarrassment?
I think a good example of this is LA Noire. I always feel like a total jackass even though I feel like I’m selecting the right choice for an interrogation.
The thing with this is though, as mentioned, the player would likely just blame misleading writing over anything else. But that’s where some setup up front would do a lot of work for you. Gotta set up the character as being a Larry David or Alan Partridge-like asshole around the beginning somehow, so when a semi-vague option that sounds right happens, the player will begin to think each time, “Oh no, how is this idiot going to to handle this choice? What disaster will come from my decision?”
Quantic Dream’s games are, unintentionally, exactly this sometimes.
Outside of that, make it a buddy NPC doing the embarrassing stuff for you. Someone maybe close to a Barry Wheeler-like from Alan Wake.
Otherwise, just play Facade.