I own the original and to my surprise This one appeared on my account.. RESPECT! I see this as the updated version and the one to play if you're planning on commencing a new game. In my case, I had to start all over because I was on a particular part in the old one (not that far) and this remaster doesn't work with original saves. But in the end it was all worth it, Let me elaborate.
Combat was balanced a lot, thank goodness because its this game's weakest point in my humble opinion. Enemies are no longer a mechanical frustration, they are challenging but not to a fault; balance. Gun play its still shotty (no pun intended) but workable.
Story its great, very intriguing however the ending was lackluster; won't spoil you but it reminded me of a cheap horror film.. Think "Dagon (2005)" It wasn't fulfilling but in a weird way I was glad I played the game.
The atmosphere is top notch in my experience, from the aesthetics to the vocal performance to the sound to the graphics. The game can indeed look astonishingly great with raytracing however I don't have the luxury to actually use that in a playable setting so I had to make do with what I have which is an RX6700XT and the performance (without raytracing or upscaling) was great in high settings at 1080p. This remaster is an improvement all around to the original specially since I wasn't all that happy with the OG's performance and frustrating balancing issue all around.
The thing that really shines through with this game is it's investigative mechanics.. Great great job! this game gives off Sherlock Holmes vibes since this was made by the same studio that brought out the last Sherlock games. This is where this game shines, couple that and H.P. Lovecraft's settings' atmosphere and this game is what you're looking at. I personally enjoyed it for what it was and while disappointed with the OG at first, it then grew on me and started playing until I actually started to enjoy it.
Anyways, with all the shenanigans put to rest, Looking forward to the Sinking City 2.