This is a hard one to give an objective rating for as the gameplay is very meh, but the story and characters are beyond god-tier. The latter stands out more for me so I'm giving it a higher rating, but the shortest summary I can give without spoiling things is that Nier will make you feel like the biggest piece of shit in the world for playing it and it'll keep twisting that knife more and more the more you play of it. It will destroy you. Your heart will be shattered. If you've finished the game and you don't know what I'm talking about then you haven't finished the game.
The music is hard to judge too because a lot of the soundtrack is made up of really short loops that play over and over and over and over and over and while they do sound nice they quickly become maddening, but outside of those ones are longer tracks that are just beyond beautiful. It's really nice to see Nier get some love because of Automata, but I really hope this one doesn't get overlooked because of it.
I guess overall objectively the game is a pretty mixed bag but the things it does well make the complaints look like nothing in comparison, so if you can overlook the weak gameplay and the tinnitus you'll get from the shorter music loops the game really is something special.

I'm kinda surprised critics didn't eat this up since they liked Ico and Shadow of the Colossus so much. It has a similar vibe to me.

http://www.polygon.com/2014/5/20/5734400/drakengard-3-beauty-violence-trailer

TIL: Nier's story was influenced by 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

I think I should try this one before I step in the next-gen!

If there's a game with a soul, then it's surely NIER. Such an underrated game, that is unlike anything I have ever played. As the saying goes, beauty is only skin deep, so does this game show it's truly beautiful if you can look past the first impression.
Pros: The story that just has to be experienced, New game+ that actually adds to the experience, endearing and superbly crafted main characters, enemies and NPCs as well, beautiful and haunting music, voice acting, exceptional writing, pays homage to a lot of games/genres, blends them geniously, in terms of gameplay it's jack of all trades ...
Cons: ..., but master of none, level design is a hit or miss, really outdated graphics, often barren environments