Yes, turn off the computers to put the plane in Direct Law. Then you can fly it like a normal plane.
Don't you mean you can fly it like a normal flight simulator?
Side stick actually strikes me as ergonomically good, but no feedback has to suck when things get delicate. IMO, even CG feedback would be better than nothing, but still not the same as really feeling what the airstream is doing on the ailerons and elevator.