How many LIs are too many?

[Xykoss]

12 is to many I forgot what game is it

 

[eoeoao]

I think around 6–8 LIs is ideal. Personally, I'm happy to have more love interests as long as each route is well-written, has plenty of content, and doesn't feel rushed in its progression.

 

[Arielle]

About four people would be ideal.
Actually, even just one person is fine. I feel like the more people there are, the more watered down the experience gets.

 

[shironyan]

5 or 5+1 secret LI is the standard. For example, 9R.I.P... but because they have too many LI, each route is so short

 

[Eril $akurai]

It gets kind of overwhelming when there are more than seven of them.
But I usually don't mind it too much if the characters are interesting.

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

I'd say 5~6 LIs is definitely the sweet spot, and I wouldn't be bothered by a secret route. When it gets above 7 in a single game I'll start worrying about it lol
It also depends on playtime though. A longer game with more LIs is understandable, but a shorter one just tells me the routes won't be properly developed... as long as the plot is not rushed and the routes aren't the same thing, but with different characters, I can let it slide

It's more likely I'll play a game with a lot of LIs if they have two MCs and a longer playtime though. Too many LIs for a single MC is a bit overwhelming

 

[aqueencxz]

There's no such thing as too many LIs tbh, as long as they don't mess up the quality of the writing for the quantity!

 

[lilillll]

I think it's 10. But with games like Kuni no Alice series, Starry Sky series, Vitamin series, and Tokimeki Memorial GS series, even the number 10 still feels pretty small

 

[kaloh]

For me it's less of an issue of too many characters than it is the routes becoming too short if there are too many. If there's a game with 10 LIs and a game with 5 LIs and they're of equal length, then unless there's some masterpiece-level writing in the former I'm going to prefer the one with fewer LIs as it's more likely they will have more satisfactory, in-depth routes.

I can somewhat get the appeal of more LIs if the game is solely focused on fluffy romance and doesn't have any huge plot going on, but even then those games aren't to my taste anyways.

So, for the average-length otome game, I'm most comfortable with 5-6. (4 is also acceptable on the shorter end but generally I prefer at least 5.) For a longer length one pushing it to ~8 is fine, though IMO anything above that does get a bit tedious.