I don't know, I see you linked IGN's review of the original Nier and Ryan Clements seems very fair in that review... I played and beat the game back then when it came out (PS3), and played through it once, 24 hours if I recall correctly, I did like 10 of those nonsensical chores (sidequests) and at the end of the day I think it was no more than a 6.5/10 in my book. Some parts of the game were brilliant, but overall it was an inconsistent experience, a flawed game, a diamond in the very rough perhaps. By all means the IGN review was more or less on point and even gracious with the 7/10 imo.