We recently looked at one modder’s efforts to graft enemy models onto the playable Dark Souls character’s avatar, but a new in-development mod called Age of Fire promises something much more ambitions: being able to play as any enemy, including bosses, and unleash their fury on any of the game’s maps.
Development on the Age of Fire mod, which is spearheaded by a group of modders who call themselves Datehacks, began three years ago, and back then it was little more than a proof-of-concept debug build with pitched playable boss fights. Now, however, Age of Fire has progressed into something truly interesting, with Datehacks able to bring fully playable boss characters into specific game maps and just go to town on any unfortunate NPC’s they cross paths with. Thanks to this recent Reddit post that Datehacks published, you can watch YouTube footage that shows playable versions of iconic Dark Souls bosses such as the Sanctuary Guardian, Artorias, and even the Lord of Cinder himself, Gwyn.
While controlling these boss characters, players have access to their full repertoire of moves and attacks, including that annoyingly deceptive front-flip smash Artorias uses to punish unsuspecting players. Thanks to the specific nature in which the Age of Fire mod renders the playable boss models, they can also move freely through tight spaces despite how massive most of them are. It might look a little strange seeing imposing figures like Artorias and Gwyn trundle along through cramped passageways, but if the default Dark Souls character can fit through them, so can the playable bosses.
Datehacks says that the final goal is to allow mod users to play as any enemy, not just bosses. Engine limitations mean that players won’t be able to seamlessly transition between different areas of the game while controlling enemy characters, but the Age of Fire mod will allow users to pick the exact map they want to visit. A playable demo should be available soon, the only caveats are that you’ll need a debug mode executable, and that the mode will only work with the Prepare to Die version of Dark Souls, not the more recent Remastered Edition.
For more on Dark Souls, be sure to read our coverage of what the game can look like when transformed into a kid-friendly animated storybook.