Like some have mentioned, if you want to try different distros setup a VM (I would recommend KVM for better performance, but virtualbox is easier for beginners in VMing) with the iso of the distro you want to test out.
Like this you can keep a functional system without the hassle of having to setup on baremetal just for testing and having to go back again if doesn't pay-out.
Also would suggest messing around with more tech-savy setups like debian and fedora (specially minimal ones) if you want to delve deeper into the Linux nerdiness.
I would recommend trying out first sway just because the configuration is very straightforward and you easily find on the internet configuration files of other people, most of the setup is already done for you out of the box as well.
After getting used to sway I would then recommend moving into WMs that require more tinkering, like hyperland you mention on the post.
Also if you ended up removing animations and don't really care that much, you might want to try other projects that have different focuses such as the minimalism of dwl or the different approach of tilling with tags with river (it all ends up on preference after getting used to this kinda of graphical servers)
Edit: FYI, most of the ricing (aesthetics) tends to come from the status bar you choose, the colors you choose to configure on files and the background image (I would say background img being the most important cause everything is built around it (colors, themeing, etc) )