Haha yeah you can never win with fans I guess but I'd take notes from something like Lord of the Rings, one of the most revered movie trilogies in history which, though not keeping EXACT to the books because that would be pretty impossible, did an exceptional job and staying faithful to its source material without feeling the need to, say, bring Saruman back from the dead.

I'd strongly push you if I could to play it! It's not perfect, but definitely enjoyable enough that I played it twice (relese date & again with wife) =D