Where's the fun in keeping the characters you've already corrupted handily, largely destroying any semblance of resistance and rebuilding all notions of self-worth along the way? Not to sound like a spoiled child, but been there, done that.
I seem to recall the developer implied early on that you could set yourself up as a separate main character from the ... hero of the first game. If you're playing a different guy, Lily and all the rest won't have the same appeal because they are essentially not persons of interest to your particular depraved depredations (beyond being kind of hot). And you'll always know, of course, that they've already been begrimed by the previous game's events. In my opinion, it's really a situation of damned if you do, damned if you don't in reusing the same cast.
And yes, I heartily concur that it simply isn't interesting controlling empty-headed fuck-doll mannequins that I randomly generate on a previous screen. I'm not sure it's possible to synthesize meaningful traits like defiance and innocence while knowing full well they're just there for me to tear down later and obviously their personal kinks won't surprise me if I've picked them off a list somewhere. It's like ... building cars out of Lego just to enjoy a destructive collision. Consequences for character choices in a story, either good or bad, only benefit from a plausible dynamic of change!
That being said, I really enjoyed the simplicity of the original Lab Rats, the quality of the writing, and Vren's admirable work ethic. I was never even bothered by the Phantom Johnson and I strongly prefer decent still images like his to the cumbersome, lurching, poorly-framed seizures that some folks in this community call animations. In short, even if the current art requires a great deal of refinement, I remain genuinely hopeful that this new project will capture some of that magic once more or perhaps even create some of its own.