Nier suffers from what I call "The Smallville Effect." Every season, Smallville flip-flops between awesome and unwatchable; one week Clark is palling around with the Legionnaires, the next he's squaring off against a guy whose powers are derived from Kryptonite-fused gum. Nier's mish-mashed mechanics create a similar situation.

I think Nier may feature one of this year's prettiest soundtracks. Background music is layered, allowing one track to flow into the other seamlessly. As you run from one area to another, the soundscape seamlessly transitions from one song to another. It's a cool effect. Nearly every song shares similar beats, so the switch sounds completely natural. For example, the Junk Yard and Plains feature the same melody, but the Plains' choral version is replaced with a more digital sounding version the minute you enter the dungeon.

The visuals aren't nearly as stunning. Nier, the game's protagonist, is one of the more unattractive in recent memory and his companions aren't much to look at either. There are some interesting designs scattered throughout the game, but for the most part it's blocky, flat environments with little else going on.

Nier begins with the end of humanity. Disease is killing off humans, leaving them to fend for themselves. After a short combat tutorial surrounding a father trying to protect his daughter, we're flung into the future where humans have reverted back to an almost primal way of life.

Like Final Fantasy XIII, Nier is a slow burn. The first ten or so hours are spent playing as a father whose only concern is caring for his sick daughter. Though this sometimes takes him into a dungeon or two, a majority of the time is spent running UPS errands. The first part of the game is stuffed with dull, meaningless fetch quests. These are your only way to earn money, but unless you're dying to collect weapons, you can find most of what you need by scavenging through levels. You'll want to complete a few quests just to get some spending cash, but these are mostly just time wasters to pad playtime.

The big question surrounding Nier is how the fathers' similar plights relate to one another. One playthrough offers a shaky answer, but it takes four plays to get the entire story. To its credit, subsequent games are more enjoyable than the first. The ten or so hours of "fluff" are cut out, leaving the last bit of meat. It's provides a good incentive to keep playing, but by the time you complete your first 20+ hour game, you're worn out.

The back-and-forth between Grimoire Weiss, an age-old talking book, and Kainé, a foul-mouthed lingerie-clad fighter, remove some of the tedium from side-quests. Weiss is the player's "voice" within the game. Everything you've ever thought while playing ("Why am I collecting flowers when I should be saving the world?"), Weiss says. Kainé's language is a bit rough, but her string of curses and bravado make her endearing. She sounds like a real person. It's like having Alan Rickman providing a running commentary while playing with someone over Xbox Live. Little, playful moments like this show a referential sense of self; Nier doesn't take itself as seriously as say, Final Fantasy XIII, and for that I can excuse some of its flaws.

Nier packs three difficulty levels. I went through on Normal and, though I faced a little trouble initially, it gets easier. A core problem is the combat system. It's functional, but elegantly clumsy. Enemies will gang up on you, forcing you to take on multiple groups at a time. Survival depends on your ability to know when to switch weapons (though you don't get the option until much later in the game) and deft use of the block and dodge buttons.

Even the most skilled fighters will run afoul of some of Nier's annoying combat issues. Some enemies are capable of one- or two-hit kills. With the exception of sheep (who are capable of inflicting damage given an opening), there are no "easy" enemies. There's also an unhealthy fixation on "knockback" effects. Even low-level monsters are capable of anime-worthy knockdowns. Once you're down, they aren't above taking a few cheap shots.

Nier has an identity crisis. Structurally, it resembles a hack-and-slash RPG, but it's core mechanics are constantly in flux. Enemies will spray bullets, forcing you into dodge and shoot techniques found in bullet-hell shooters. Other times, you're navigating Zelda-esque dungeons. There are even times where visuals are dropped in favor of a text-based narrative. Nier is not above having fun and switching things up on players. Even the camera will unexpectedly shift into either into a top-down or side-scrolling view. There's no reason for the changes other than because the developers could do it, but it helps keep things interesting.

The downside to the scatter-shot mechanics is Nier isn't good at any one thing. It wants to be five things without taking the time to master one. The mechanics never come together in a satisfying way. Adding another mechanic is just another opportunity to screw it up. Most of the game is serviceable, but for everything that sort of works, there's something that doesn't. Case in point, fishing. The mechanic is maddening; even the in-game tutorial isn't sure how it works.

RPG elements are light. Nier gains levels, but combat upgrades involve attaching prefixes to spell and weapon names to add new abilities. This is really just for the illusion of choice since you can select a "Use Best" option. The same goes for weapons. Each has its own stats, but once your character's level and "Words" come into play, stats are meaningless. Weapon selection is really just a matter of aesthetic choice.

Nier is an interesting game for sure. It has fun and doesn't confine itself to any one mechanic. The approach ensures there's never a moment where gameplay feels repetitive, but it doesn't necessarily make for a good game. The Square faithful will openly embrace Nier's quirks, but those not onboard will likely jump ship before the voyage gets interesting.