I tried MineClone first, and it was fun. After researching mods, I went deep down the rabbit trail, and switched to MineGame/default, since it seems like there's more mod combinations.
Now I have a setup that's roughly MineClone, but with some quality of life changes.
Most notably, once I tried the 'always have a crafting table' default in MineGame, I missed it anytime I tried to go back to MineClone (which requires a crafting table to unlock 3x3 crafting, just like Minecraft).
I would love to see your mod list! If you have done a bit of work to find and test a collection of mods that you like, people might be interested to try it as an alternative starting point.
I started by adding everything by TenPlus1, on the assumption that anyone working that hard, to make that many mods, was probably making good mods. (This turned out to be a good assumption.)
Beyond that I have added most of the 'More X' and 'X Redo' plugins.
I'm experimenting with the various 'Wilhems XYZ' plugins now, and liking what I've seen so far.
I've been adding cautiously, because I had a lot of issues when running much fewer mods on Minecraft Java Edition. But MineTest just cranks along happily with roughly 30 mods, for me, right now.
Posting a full list is on my to-do list, after the list is stable.
Do any of them make you feel like you're having an experience that you couldn't replicate in minecraft?
Oh yes.
Mods like 'More Trees' and 'Farming Redo' provide a much deeper farming experience.
'Pipeworks' adds the inventory sorting engine that I always wanted in Minecraft, but with much simpler recipes.
'Realistic HangGlider' replicates Elitra and Rockets, but it's just craftable - no extra-dimensional scarcity. Which happens to fit my play style.
And most notably, the default 3x3 in-inventory crafting is such a nice quality of life feature. I'm not constantly running back to, or making another, crafting box.