They definitely used a better version than the base 5e material. I am pretty sure they based most the ranger stuff off the unearthed arcana revision Ranger. I have used several of the beast summons and they all seem useful in their own way. They wont take a TON of hits, but they all do ok damage, and have their special skills that can help alot.
My personal favorite right now is the bear, at level 3 he has 19 HP (pretty decent), does ok damage, but can taunt enemies, so he will soak 2-3 hits before he dies, which is 2-3 hits my party did not take, which in this game is amazing. The Hunter will likely be better damage, but I like the utility and flavor the beast class has.
Since we don't have later levels, we don't know how well they will scale later, but at low/medium levels looks like they will be ok.
Can we also acknowledge how god damn awesome the bear looks. So many of the creatures in this game look amazing and even as someone with limited D&D experience, seeing them come to life is amazing. Same goes for the ranger pets. The bear is so FUZZY
