I've literally just come out of my LPC sim a couple of hours ago. Done a bit of flying over the summer but only one PF sector in the last 7 weeks. Airbus A320.
After all the usual items, each pilot flies a short sector from A to B. Manual flight, manual thrust and no FD's. Climbs, turns and descents to a raw ILS. Very useful exercise in the old basics and a reminder that it can still be flown just like a simple piston twin.
Would I try the same into a busy TMA? No chance. But if it all fell over, I still have the old skills available.