In my personal judgement, changes to the Ranger class were badly needed, and this response is an excellent one.
Overall, I'd rate the revised Ranger as above par compared to other classes, though still within the established range. It is in the realm of multiclassing that I see the bigger issues.
The largest concern to me is the front loading of abilities. Level one Ranger now grants access to a large number of abilities that every class can use. Advantage on initiative checks, advantage on attacks vs characters that have yet to act, a free language, and a damage bonus against a chosen enemy type. Suddenly, said Ranger is a must have one level dip for almost every single build out there. Assassin/Ranger is also suddenly particularly difficult to manage as a Dungeon Master, as they're now almost guaranteed to get those nasty alpha strikes off in every combat.
I see your point Daishain. I'm surprised everyone doesn't dip a level. Rangers get advantage on everything it seems like. I feel left out not getting rerolls for initiative and attacks and bonus damage *smile* I think the best archers would take a couple of levels in ranger and the rest in fighter. That would truly be nasty.