MSFS is nothing like the real thing, but it's a lot better than nothing, and it has the advantage that you can stop it at any point, and work out what's gone wrong and why.
I use a variety of approach plates from all sorts of places, and fly ILS, back-course, NDB, VOR, VOR-A, DME arc, and the like at various Florida airfields. Set everything to fully realistic, set the cloudbase to 50 feet above whatever is the MDA for the approach you're doing, and plan to go around on one out of two anyway (just use an MDA 100 feet above the plate "for lack of practice").
I used to do lots of that before each IMC renewal test, and never had a problem. Now, I strive to keep the FAA IR current, so do lots of simulated IFR in the aeroplane. That's better but more expensive...