I have no real world flying experience. The only simulator I have used is AFS2 and since 2016 I've notched up a few hundred hours. Not much compared to many but I did wonder if it would make a difference in the real world. Last Friday I had an hour's "trial flight" in a Piper Warrior, a Christmas present from my wife. I didn't make a big deal of my simming but the instructor asked about my hobbies so I said "tennis and messing around with simulators". He put me left seat and gave me the job of following the taxiway line out to the runway. We paused for some control tower chat then he told me I'd be doing the take off. We thought he was joking - me and my wife sat nervously in the back. He wasn't.
I was surprised how much extra pull was needed on the yoke but otherwise it behaved as I expected. Also I didn't realise you don't use the rudder once you have some speed up. Once airborne I then basically flew the thing for the next hour under his direction. I managed to hold bearings and altitudes pretty well with a few reminders. I was amazed how much he let me do. I was even more amazed when he told me I would be landing it. No complicated joining of a circuit, we just approached on an angle right of base as the tower instructed and I took it straight in. He said the landing was a "little firm" (which it was!) and he would have landed it like a butterfly with sore feet.
I may have had my feet on terra firma for the rest of the day but my head was on cloud 9. It completely exceeded my expectations and I haven't fully come down to earth yet.
If you're in the same situation as me I'd recommend some real world experience.