My 2 cents: I like the original better than the modified. But as said, i like that some things seem....recognizable.
Oh...and regional maps for this world-map would be awesome. I like that. I hope you start with your "Mediterranean" aka the "Europe" part. After that your "Middle East", then "China and Japan". As you can see, i have this all figured out already (i'm an enthusiastic world-builder and pen&paper roleplayer...just to give you all the information ^^ )