Wish installing a Vim plugin were as simple as installing an Npm package. Yet another time when I try to learn Vim. :|

Have you tried using a plugin manager?
There's tons of them, such as Vim-Plug (https://github.com/junegunn/...), Dein Vim (https://github.com/Shougo/dein.vim), etc.

Vundle make installing plugins super easy. Pathogen is good too

Best is vim-plug by far

Plugin managers for vim are confusing. You can't rely on using just one, because every fucking developer seem to have different opinions on which one is the best and therefore not every plugin is supported by every plugin manager. So annoying!