Prado owner here, its been a great car and spends more time off road than on road. The V6 is powerful enough to take the car most places, but i always feel like “a little bit more” would be better. . . . . . I can imagine if the car weighed and extra 500kg (approx difference between patrol and prado) it would not be much fun in the desert.
Regarding rear difflock, centre difflock has been enough for me in the sand, and in the wadis the traction control is more than adequate to help through some more challenging obstacles.
bash plate and bumper trim was more than adequate for fewbie level, and some AT tyres made fewbie plus level more enjoyable!
Hope that helps!