You can’t totally brute force it, but you can brute force certain words IIRC.
But yeah, it’s basically a Metroidvania where combat is replaced by puzzles, but that’s my point. Souls-like is just a trendy new way to say Metroidvania. I literally can’t think of a functional difference between them. Every Metroidvania I think could just as well call itself a Souls-like, and vice versa, and nothing would change. I remember DS1 being called a Metroidvania originally.
The difference is almost purely aesthetic. Like I said earlier, possibly the only real distinguishing factor is RPG mechanics, but there are examples of games using either genre description with and without that, so I don’t think it’s required.