Eh, I agree with your last point to a certain extent. Visual novel writers should be able to write whatever the heck they want, but not on Kickstarter dime. Though legally the project creator is only beholden to delivering the project, they are expected on a social level to deliver a project that satisfies backers. This is the implicit agreement Kickstarter donors have with project managers when they give them their money. Not doing so incurs social consequences, and depending on the context, these consequences can be justified (i.e. marketing it in Kickstarter as one thing, and delivering it as another).
As to whether RE:H was ever labelled as a romance...I'm not sure? I check otome, dating sim, and romance tags all the time here, so I'm pretty sure that's how I first came across RE:H. Looking at the tags on the product page now though, none of those are there, so...*shrugs* Maybe they changed it or I came across it some other way. If anyone else can chime in on that, I'd appreciate it.