I just finished the game (1st time through)...It is completely, for lack of better words "BAD ASS"...Didn't understand a word of the story, but started to pick some stuff up from this early translation: 

http://marfisa.net/doujinshi/ysorigin.txt

The gameplay, music, visuals, are all top notch.  Classic intro and ending cinemas...The ending gave me chills.  This was probably the best Ys experience for me, playing the game on High-def on my TV (1080i), it looked great.  If you have the means, I highly recommend picking it up.  Falcom rocks.  It is a complete travesty that this game (and Felghana for that matter) will not be experienced by and large outside Japan.  I'm shocked...

I like it, but...it definitely seems like the weakest of the recent Ys games. I think the repetitive environments and the whole linear progression of the tower (as opposed to the more open feeling of the world in the previous games) drag it down a bit. Plus the music is kinda eh...the boss and intro themes are fantastic, but the rest has been pretty mediocre. The plot seems like really good fan service to long time Ys devotees though, and playing as Hugo is fun, even though I'd love a strafe button. The boss encounters have also been fantastic so far.

Huh...

I thought the bosses were great.  The game play was very similar to Felghana.  I can't read japanese, so I was completely ok with the reduced RPG element.  I kind of liked that it all took place in the Tower.  A fitting tribute.  Overall, I chose not to rate it.  It's Ys to me.  As far as the music, I didn't like it by itself, but after playing it along side the game, I really enjoyed it.  The graphic presentation with the ability to set in higher resolutions, is probably the best I've seen (Though felghana looked great too).  I'm going to revisit Felghana soon, there is apparently a translation patch that's near completion (from Nightwolve).