Lloyd, Olivier, Randy, and Kevin were quality male characters. In Cold Steel they really caved into the waifu wars and most of the male characters in the party are meh.
Lloyd has a distinct personality. Lloyd feels like a confident leader who is very headstrong with a distinct sense of justice. His defining trait wasn't being a harem protagonist even if he ended up being that too.
Hell the best male character in class VII is probably Jusis if we aren't getting into spoilers. He only becomes a tolerable character when he forms a comedy duo with someone else that brings out his emotions. Gaius, Machias, and Elliot either all suck or are just there.
I'm glad to hear that they're back to making the male lead an actual character again in Daybreak. I hope they never do this harem bullshyt again.