Yes, this echoes my experience of simulator training. We spend 2 hours on a LOFT flight where we get one easy, one medium and one difficult failure to deal with, all in real time. Passenger PAs, radioing company Operations Dept, the lot.
All well and good, but SIM time and availability is finite and precious, and should not be squandered. Where was the go-around practice? The PFD or IAS disagree? The runaway Stab trim? The unusual attitude recovery in IMC? The stuck thrust lever? (I did a B737 rating three years ago and runaway Stab Trim was never demonstrated or practised).
The fundamental handling aspects are what should be practiced, not the long drawn out problems; those can be worked through for real if they happen on the line. But precious SIM time should be spent practising basic manual handling and practising recognising fundamental insidious instrumentation problems.
And not just one practice of each thing - that is ticked as long as it just squeaks inside the limits even though it was messy. Better to give each pilot at least 5 practises of each critical situation, e.g. a go-around, so they can refine and develop their technique, and in the case of confusing instrument indications; so they can recognise them better should they ever happen for real.
Situations that can be overwhelming to crews, such as IAS disagree with the stick shakers operating continuously, really need to be witnessed and experienced in the SIM otherwise how will pilots cope if they happen for real?
It is not enough to write down the procedures in a book and then expect all pilots to be able to recognise and deal with them. They need to physically witness and practise dealing with all the critical situations.