Agree. One of the biggest drawbacks for VFR flying in MSFS is that you cannot "look out the window", so you start to rely on instruments way too early in your flying career.
That's only true out of the box. If you're prepared to invest in some decent monitor real-estate and a Track-IR (plus as has been said, proper flight controls and a decent aeroplane model - Realair make the best imo) you can absolutely achieve realistic enough VFR flying without any reference to instruments if you so choose. Without that investment I'd agree it's not helpful.
Ian