Well, Vim is not some concrete implementation, it's not like "Photoshop", where it means a specific product line, it's an idea. "The power of Vim" is its grammar, the grammar is design, and designs port - that's why Helix, Kakoune, Evil-mode, Meow, etc. exist. I agree that the "command structure" you're referring to may feel better than modifier-chord scheme of vanilla Emacs, where commands are a flat namespace - a mixed bag of bindings with no algebra connecting them.

However, the years of muscle-memory might be deceiving. Vim's objects are text-shaped - the design has no idea of what a function or an expression is. Vim's grammar is excellent but its nouns are approximations. The modern answer perhaps to keep the grammar and upgrade the nouns, which is what tree-sitter text objects attempt of doing.

Anyway, my main point is not about the grammar, but about the grand idea. The idea of Vim is a beautiful, pragmatic model and it can be perfectly used outside of Neovim. If you truly want to take it to another level, maybe consider combining it with the power of Emacs.

Innovation and insight rarely happen within a single substrate - you typically need to explore intersections of divergent disciplines. Emacs itself is rooted in another grand idea, arguably one of the most important ideas in all the history of computer science - a practical notation for lambda calculus widely known as "Lisp". Once you understand the immense, pragmatic value of that idea, it eliminates any skepticism you might have held against it.

If you think Emacsians don't get vim, well, you're misinformed. There are thousands of vimmers who choose to be viming in Emacs. Because Emacs vims better. As a die-hard vimmer I can attest.