The cheaty gameplay isn’t that bad, as long as it’s not the first playthrough. It’s definitely way too easy to give you a sense of accomplishment against all odds, but it also allows you to skip all the grind and the sidequests that you should’ve already done (as those, AFAIK, have no Lea-dependent dialogue).
I didn’t know Iconoclasts was usually compared to CrossCode!
I can’t really see any similarities. It’s a great game, definitely on the level of CC if a bit less git gud in nature, but the only similarity I can think of is both games using pixel art.