Video Game / Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Again

This page contains unmarked spoilers for Dark Souls. You Have Been Warned!

Prepare to die a second time

Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Again is a Game Mod of the original Nintendo Hard title, being one of the first, and most popular, extensive overhauls created for the game. Originally just a simple remix of enemies, the mod has evolved over the years, gradually including a massive amount of revisions, including bonfire placement changes, handpicked new enemy placements, new bonfire locations, completely new equipment and items (including some that had been unused of the vanilla game), a brand new fast-travel system, enhancements to the game's bosses, some completely new enemy variants, and much more. Version 8.0 added a full rebalance of the games items and mechanics, along with restoring a large amount of cut dialogue, as well as quest chains.

The mod can be downloaded here, and is compatible with both the Prepare to Die Edition, and the remaster.

This page is under heavy construction. Help would be appreciated

Examples exclusive to the mod:

• Adaptational Villainy: Thanks to the addition of several unused questlines in 8.0...
  • Iron Tarkus is fought as a super tough enemy replacing the Prowling Demon in the Anor Londo chapel, having apparently survived the trip to the Cathedral...only to pull a Face–Heel Turn, whilst in the original game, he was killed falling off the rafters by the Painted World guardians.
  • Shiva as originally intended, turns against the player if they bring the Chaosblade before him and as a result is significantly more Ax-Crazy revealing himself to be an insane madman, resulting in the player having to track him down, and slay him to reclaim the weapon.
• Anti-Frustration Features: While the new fast-travel system involving the Ferrymen isn't quite as convenient as the Lordvessel in the original game, you can unlock fast travel coffins much sooner than acquiring the Lordvessel, and usually least one point of each fast travel route is reasonably close to Firelink Shrine or another fast travel point that can get you there. In fact, if you unlock the ferryman coffin early in the Catacombs, you can visit Anor Londo and the entrance to the Painted World basically the start of the game, though with the caveat that you can only access the painting room in the former and you still need to acquire the Peculiar Doll from the Northern Asylum to enter the latter.
  • As well, due to the fast travel changes, the DLC content allows you to use the broken pendant to warp back to Darkroot Garden at any time.
  • Some merchants allow you to buy soul items for a slightly larger price than they're worth when used (they do have to make a profit, after all), but can also be useful for storing a large amount of souls in your inventory that won't be lost upon death.
• Badass Army: The Black Knights of Gywn make mince meat out of the surviving demons, especially with the players help.
• Carry a Big Stick: A new variant of Silver Knights heft around a replica of Havel's Dragonstooth, which they swing with reckless abandonment.
• Flunky Boss: Pinwheel is less of a joke now, not particularly because of his own capabilities, but because he summons the ever-dreaded wheel skeletons as his minions. Three at a time. Chances are you won't die to Pinwheel himself, but rather getting ripped apart by those damned wheels coming at you from all directions, if you're not careful.
• Obvious Rule Patch: Certain enemies and bosses who could be parried before cannot be riposted, which makes fighting them more challenging. The main beneficiaries of this change are the Black Knights and Gywn.
  • The Master Key is no longer available as a starting gift, due to how extremely useful it is in the early game, resulting it being picked by basically everyone.
• Post-Final Boss: If you do his questline, Oscar of Astora will fight you after you defeat Gywn, complete with special dialogue depending on whether you sided with Frampt or Kaathe.
• Recurring Element:
  • The game retools Black Iron Tarkus as a stand in for Jester Thomas, a Memetic Badass summon turned super enemy.
  • The Bed of Chaos fight has been made into something akin to the Ivory King battle of Dark Souls II, with the player having to rally the remnants of a Great Lord's army and charge into the Chaos flame with a lance of Knights to fight a great evil with a force of it's own.
• The Remnant: You can stumble upon elements of Gywn's surviving Black Knight Cohort in Lost Izalith, whom you can awaken, and have them fight by your side as allies against the gauntlet of demons. They can even help you fight the Bed of Chaos.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Oscar of Astora survives after handing you the Estus Flask, and he even has his own questline where he will aid you against Sif and fight you, and will fight you after you defeat Gywn (either seeking to become the Dark Lord or stop you from becoming the Dark Lord, depending on whether you sided with Frampt or Kaathe respectively).
• Summon Magic: The miracle "Congregation" lets you summon a semi-transparent ally for a short time in the form of a specific enemy from the area you are in. While you only get four uses, using the spell at the right times can make certain situations much less stressful, at least because your summoned ally will often distract enemies and soak up damage, and sometimes, they will actively do more damage than you will.