Hero Party Must Fall is an netori game, not really NTR, but it has one of, if not the best stories I have ever seen in the NSFW game genre. All the characters are 3D and likeable, including the MC who is so fleshed out. It isn't a simple "I want her for myself because she's hot" but a mix of more complex reasons. It is one of the free NTR adjacent games that I truly enjoy. Games with NTR can have amazing stories if the creators actually put in the effort or had the skill. Hell, this can be said with all genres in media. If the story is trash, then the trope fails. How it is used and how prevalent it is to the plot matters. It also matters what the creator wants. They can want a simple game with a simple story, while some want a more complex story. NTR falls in the former more often than not because people tend to care more about the dominance, sexual part of it and not the story. Many artists reuse the same story because it is a safe way to go, as everyone knows what to expect so expectations are low. It's when you add depth that NTR can either shine or be terrible. This AU game is trying to not be as serious as the main game, so we shouldn't expect it to be all that grand. Hell, I love it because of the "small but hung" and "small dom, big sub" tropes. I don't care much for the story, and the devs seem to be aware of that. Could they improve the story or add on to it? Of course, but do not be surprised if it remains just a simple sex/NTR type game.
Side note: I really love this discussion about the story quality of NTR games because I want to make one myself, but I don't want to have my story be like all the rest. This discussion has helped me realize that I gotta try harder and think of more ways to make mine good. (Don't expect me to tell ya anything about it as I have yet to put my thoughts on paper and I don't have the skills at the moment to make it a reality).
I think you've hit the nail on the head there.
It takes a lot of things to create a good sex game. Firstly, there's the technical aspect, meaning the game's programming. Secondly, there's the art and/or animation which are fundamental in games since they need to be visually appealing, especially if they are sex games. Thirdly, there's the writing and planning of the game's story and how the events unfold. I believe that this part is especially tricky since a well-made game should aim at having a good balance between plot and sex scenes. On the one hand, people who play nsfw games want to see the sex scenes, therefore if the story is too convoluted and the lewd events take too long to unlock, they will eventually get bored. On the other hand, if the game has a badly written story or throws the sex events at you without any context or previous character development, the scenes will seem random and the overall game will appear lazy; hence people will quickly grow tired of it in this case, too.
In short, it takes time and effort to make a good sex game. This is true for all genres including NTR, as you explained very well in your previous post. Nonetheless,
StapleComm raises a good point. Speaking as someone who enjoys NTR games, it's true that many of the ones I have played follow a similar pattern. In some cases, the MC starts off his story as someone who is already is a stable, happy relationship. As the game continues, they are confronted by a rival who attempts to corrupt and steal his partner away. In these games, the NTR route is unavoidable as it is the main focus of the story which inevitably ends with the MC losing their partner. In other cases, the MC starts a casual game protagonist who needs to work from scratch to forge bonds with his potential partners through either love or corruption. As the story continues, they are eventually challenged by someone with the same idea who attempts to get close and have sex with the MC's love interests. In these games, the NTR route is often avoidable, as it isn't necessarily the main point of the game but rather a complimentary element to the story. Additionally, the NTR elements in these games sometimes don't have a huge impact to the story at all. They are there for the players to unlock if the enjoy NTR, but they can regardless have their romantic ending with their partners. Of the two genres, my favourite is the latter, as it generally involves a more complex story. Moreover, I find that the NTR elements work better when intertwined with the vanilla ones. I agree with you on the fact that NTR relies significantly on a psychological element to be interesting. Hence, why I believe it makes more sense when combined with a sentimental story. If the MC and his potential partners aren't close, it's not NTR when the latter has sex with someone else.
I also agree with you that this AU project shouldn't be given too much weight. I think that the reason why it became so interesting is because it was so surprising in the first place. As I mentioned in my previous posts, the main Solarion Project's development has remained stagnant for a long time. We went from a game that got updated almost monthly to a project that received barely two updates a year. Moreover, the majority of these updates did nothing to develop the story but were simply meant to add more art and, therefore, sex scenes without much context to them. Thus, many fans, and financial supporters, of the Solarion Project felt that the game was going nowhere. After all of this, we received the news that the game was officially on hiatus and that an AU mini-game would be released instead. Furthermore, the concept behind this AU is very unusual when compared to the developer's other projects. Nergal/Charon's games all revolve around the same motif: a young, well-endowed, male MC attracts the attention and affection of many beautiful ladies, and grows closer to them until they finally have sex. This AU project contains very different themes, which left people puzzled and curious about the future of the Solarion Project in general. Now we know for certain, that it won't affect the main game, as it was easily predictable, but it's still fun to speculate.
Going back to the quality of NTR games, the are several creative ways to implement them in games. Since some other commenters mentioned that contents like the ones in this AU project could theoretically fit well in the main game as well, and since we are speculating for the fun of it, I will attempt to explain a way in which this might be done without compromising the story that's been developed so far.
We know that The Solarion project is a Mass Effect-inspired game with the addition of explicit sexual content. The MC starts his career as a space captain and slowly develops his sentimental and sexual relationships with the beautiful crew members. All of the girls, in addition to being sexually attracted to him, feel genuine affection towards him, though the way and level at which they express it varies depending on their personalities. Moreover, in addition to pursuing a polyamorous relationship with all of his crew, the captain has occasional hook-ups with other NPCs which don't affect the story and most remain secret except for the second sex interaction between the captain and the Red Quinn which is witnessed by Princess Shuma though, at that point in the story, she and the captain are not an item yet.
What I would do, if I were to integrate scenes between the female NPCs and partners other than the captain, is a Roundscape Adorevia-inspired approach. For those who haven't played it. Roundscape Adorevia is a fantasy RPG where the MC, male or female, goes off on an adventure to unveil the mysteries behind the dark magic that's threatening the world of Adorevia. As the game progresses, the MC meets various characters, each representative of the various tribes that usually inhabit the fantasy world. Some of them become permanent companions of the MC who can romance them and slowly forge a polyamorous relationship. Furthermore, the MC can also have occasional hook-ups with other NPs that don't affect the relationship with their love interests. At the end of the story, if their affection level is high enough the MC can ask a partner to officially marry them. While the player can pursue a relationship with all of them during the story, they can only choose to marry one in the end. The only exception to this rule is a character named Tyshtira who comes from a culturally polyamorous tribe. Therefore the player can ask her to marry them even if they are already engaged to someone else. During the story, the MC's companions can occasionally have sex among themselves; the MC can sometimes join them for a threesome/foursome. The MC's love interests can seldom even engage in sexual acts with other NPCs outside of the main cast, but that doesn't influence the story. All of the scenes in the game are skippable if the player so wishes. Plus, since it is set in a fantasy world, the possibilities for creative sex scenes are endless, especially considering that the characters that inhabit this world can be all sorts of creatures. The game itself isn't labelled specifically as NTR though. This is because, according to the creator, the MC and their companions are in a de facto open, polyamorous relationship until the last part of the game when the player can choose their preferred love interest if the affection level with them is high enough.
I believe that a similar concept might work for the Solarion Project as well. The captain not only pursues a relationship with all of the members of his crew, which they eventually find out, but also has occasional hook-ups in private. Given that he isn't the most loyal partner, it could be possible to add scenes and sub-plots to the story where the crew members have their fun without the captain's involvement. The easiest characters to do this with would be Shelly and Mia since they already have feelings for each other, and that the Elasi, Shelly's people, are said to be sexually open-minded. In addition, since the Solarion Project takes place in a sci-fi universe the possibilities for scenes and partners are endless. It would be possible to add all types of sexual parents with different physical attributes or even genders since at least some of the crew members have had experiences having sex with other girls. Finally, these new lewd events could be treated as occasional hookups like the ones the captain has with no impact on the main story. This means that the MC could continue to have his relationship and, potentially, sentimental ending with his partners with no problem The new scenes would be there for the player to enjoy and could even be skippable based on the player's choice.
I hope you've all enjoyed this little rant of mine even though it's extremely long. If not, please let me know your ideas. I am having a ton of fun discussing this.