I've only played this version a little, but so far it looks completely faithful to the original. The graphics are better, which will give you some idea of how rough the original's were even by the standards of the time. The books that you're paying extra for are not books that were in the original. There are books in the game, but these aren't them (AFAICR anyway).

This game was a low-budget, indie project made back before crowdfunding existed. It was made by a husband and wife team of archeologists who thought it would be cool to allow people to tour the pyramids virtually. They were right. It is very cool, and they did a remarkably good job of making an interesting game out of it. I was such a fan of the original that I actually bought and--even as a near 40 year old--proudly wore the t-shirt lol. The game is, however, tough (not unfair, tough.)

It's a Myst-alike as far as gameplay goes, but the feel is different, given its real world environment. But the subject matter is mysterious and interesting, and will draw you in and not let go. If you give up on the game, it will be out of frustration at the puzzles (buy the hint book to correct this) and not boredom--at least, if you have any interest in archeology and pyramid-crawling in the first place.

I am definitely a RotS cultist. This is a terrific exploration and discovery game that deserves a place among the best of all time.

Indeed the original didn't have any ingame interactive guide. Therefore, Complaining about having it present as paying content via DLC can be legit, of course, but it is new content after all. Ok, Maybe based in an old printed Guide that probably was more expensive than the DLC itself.
In the past this content was not free, And now it is the same. Debatable? Whatever.

Anyway, Even without the DLC, the base game comes with a trial version of the "Book of Dead Ends" Guide. And the articles, infos, etc, are fully available ingame for some of the former places in the game.

According to the review they also played the enhanced version ... but they never mention that the inbuilt hintbook is a seperate DLC.

The game felt so 90s I almost want to play it. But then I was like "Wait until discount, you have Myst waiting to be played"

Isn't it the same as what is already on GOG?

Hmmm i must have missed when that came over. But also with the 'Enhanced Edition' i thought maybe they finished part 2 and put it out as well... Sorry, my mistake then.

I bought a game in 2003 that came in a jewel-case called "Riddle of the Sphinx" and THAT game was very Myst-like. It wasn't smooth-scrolling like a traditional FPS, it "jumped" from place to place, but I seem to recall that it was "smoother" than Myst was when Myst first came out. Maybe they "faded" from one spot to the next in RotS?

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure this is the same game (only enhanced). I don't recall the game I bought having "The Awakening" tacked on to the name. But maybe it did? I can't find the original disc at the moment, but I know where it is, I just can't reach it right now.

So, IF this is descendant of the same game I played, and IF they didn't make it full-3D like a FPS, then "yes, it's Myst-like". But that's a lot of IFs!! :) You'll notice that NOWHERE in the trailer do they show you any kind of movement at all, which leads me to believe they're kinda "hiding" the fact that it's not like walking around in an Unreal game or anything.

But I do remember that the old RotS was pretty cool, so hopefully this one is too, if not cooler!

It is the same game you are talking about. Yes it is Mystlike with still scenes and node navigation, and indeed, from node to node, it does a transition effect of some sort making it smoother, compared with old Mist or Riven. The old game was similar if my memory does not fail.

Apparently they are working in a 3D VR version with dynamic lights to make use of torches etc when exploring the tombs or caves in real time.

Greetings