One other aspect that I think contemporary simulator games have changed that is more built into the actual "narrative" of the games that suspiciously lines up with how these games shifted from "doing a hypothetical task with puzzle or game qualities" to "gamifying running a capital B Business".
I have put countless hours into the first two Roller Coaster Tycoon games, in which you are in the abstract running an amusement park business and trying to figure out which aspects to squeeze and exploit to reach the scenario goal, but each scenario feels disconnected, it's own sort of mimi-game where you learn the rules. When you get to RCT3, the difficulty levels are no longer beginner, intermediate, and advanced, but apprentice, entrepreneur, and tycoon, suggesting a continuity from the developers of becoming a business magnate.
I've noticed this about most modern simulator games is they try to show a career mode that tells a story of the player becoming a successful businessman throughout playing all the "levels". For instance watching power wash simulator and house flipper, your selection menu is almost like your office and each level has descriptions from your "clients". This might feel slightly adjacent to the original point, but I think it lines up with the feeling of change that these games now feel more in line with simulating you as an aspirational capitalist rather than someone playing in a sandbox version of a real-life activity.


but I do love driving around the maps trying not to hit anybody too hard