NTR villains being assholes works with shorter, less detailed products. It works for manga, doujin, and hentai anime that is a few episodes long, but it doesn't really work for that well for anything that is heavily driven by story. HC3 is a story driven project that relies on corruption to sell the cucking of its MC. HC1 got away with making its villain one note because the game itself was short, lacking in detail, and didn't tell much of a story outside of that corruption, even the main villain's scheme to conquer the world was secondary to the NTR. Conversely HC2 dropped the ball by being too harsh on Noah, he's basically treated like a completely inept buffoon by everyone in the village, which makes the abusive behaviour of his mother and Cellis feel justified because Noah is too stupid, unobservant, and childish to figure out the obvious nonsense that's going on until he's so badly positioned that there's no way he can succeed and the game has to rely on deus ex machina for the second time in a row.
With HC3 it feels like N_Taii is starting to get a handle on how to make a story that feels satisfying. Leto is older and has been presented as more competent than his predecessors, is actually in a relationship with one of the main women, and he has independent motivations that cause him to be away when his friends and loved ones are being harassed by their "partners". This will ultimately make the NTR feel far more effective, and it will allow the villains to be far more depraved as well. Yes the motivations of Ulrod do make him pathetic, but he's still a giant asshole whose actions. Personally in regards to Cyanna I kind of hope Ulrod winds up turning her into something he can't handle himself and she winds up using him to get off instead of the other way around.