Every new update kind of confirms for me that, no matter how you feel about the other girls, Rae is kind of your soul-mate and the "head wife" and mother figure to all of the others. I have no problem with this as she is absolutely my favorite (probably because of those factors
). This isn't truly a "pick your LI" game, there is (seems to be) a directed plot with defined relationships, but you get to choose how much interaction you want with the "side" girls. If I could only pick one, it would be Rae. If I can have a harem, I would pick some of the others as well and wave "good riddance" to some.
Just my take on the situation.
I actually have a very slight problem with this, but for another reason, it doesn't really impact my enjoyment of the game but i'd be lying if i said it didn't break immersion a bit.
I'm talking about the fact that, no matter how you feel about the other girls (as you pointed out), there's always the ongoing implication that you're bedding them all, even though you're maybe going out of your way to avoid sexual encounters with some of them and just want to stay friends, this usually happens during multiple-girls events when sexual innuendos jokes start to get out.
It is true that you get to choose how much interactions you have with them, but at the heart of the plot it is an harem game with no one excluded.
Ofc i realize it would be a pain in the ass to track all the possible interactions and change the dialogue accordingly (for example ignoring Cait would mean having to get rid of a lot of sexual teasing to her by Rae, and that doesn't seem feasible at all, ignoring the latter even more so), it would end becoming a different game.
But you know, i can't help but feel that i would have appreciated it a lot if the game took note if i made it clear i wasn't romantically interested in some girls, or if i had a clear favorite among them, or even if was going out of my way to be with one girl only.
For example when Yona talks about Rae being the head-wife, there's no option to confirm or deny it, because in the story she IS the head-wife, even if you personally care more for another girl, or the fact that Rae speaks in a way that implies you're getting it on with everyone in the house despite the fact that maybe in your save you've only been with her, on purpose since in the actual plot there seems to be no way that it would actually happen.
This is just a rant on personal preference however, i love the game i still think it's one of the best on this site despite all the minor complaints i could have about it.
The only thing i hope is that there's gonna be solo endings and not just a fixed big harem ending, so that you can finally clearly express your preference if had one.