It's totally the way where the game is planned to go with. In the 0.3 you need to choose Serena but the "crystal hub" is done to have multiple character choice selection for the dungeon.
I'm at the early stage of the game and new character will be added later depending of the votes. actually Serena the witch win againt Nimwen the archer.
Each one will have a "regression" story. For example Serena votes have been made for her outfit to go for Japanese Kindergarten uniform, school uniform and onesie so the road for her is decide with mantal regression, also it decide the future part of the dungeon she will explore.
Also THe maiden will have a nursery that you can visit and yes I'm thinking of a recovery sytem. Maybe it's the sacrifice of the commander directly so you can avoid to have your chracters send regress.
In general I really like the idea that you describe witch look like Darkest Dungeon.