Soulslike template
One enemy, two attacks you can see coming, a dodge, a stamina bar, and a checkpoint you walk back from. Dark Souls (FromSoftware, 2011) made the walk part of the lesson. Lies of P (Round8 Studio, 2023) keeps the lesson and changes the weapon. If the second attack does not punish a greedy swing, this is not the genre yet. The AI soulslike maker is that fight, not a general brawler.
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What makes a soulslike
Soulslike: hard, readable combat where you learn each enemy by dying to it, with checkpoints you return to.
The games that set the standard are Dark Souls (FromSoftware, 2011), Elden Ring (FromSoftware, 2022) and Lies of P (Round8 Studio, 2023).
What the template starts with
The soulslike template starts with one enemy with two telegraphed attacks, a dodge, stamina and a checkpoint. That is the smallest version of the loop that defines the genre: read the attack, commit, die, return to the checkpoint.
What to change first
Die to the second attack on purpose. If you can dodge it for free, with no stamina cost and no recovery, give the dodge a bill. A second enemy is a distraction from that bill.
2D or 3D
The soulslike template starts in 3D.
Related templates
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Describe your version in one sentence. The AI writes a brief from the template, and nothing is built until you approve it. Free for Windows and Mac.
