Why don't you just boot a live system with the later Ubuntu-MATE 22.04 LTS and try it?
Try Ubuntu before you install it | Ubuntu applies to all flavors of Ubuntu too.
Story time:
Years ago when Ubuntu 11.10 came out, I release-upgraded to it however I quickly decided I really didn't like, thus I wanted to go back to 11.04 (where I felt at home with the GNOME-classic UI; it was still GNOME 2.26 or something there; the MATE-like interface most of us using this site really appreciate!).
One of the things I love about Ubuntu Desktop systems, is the capacity to non-destructively re-install the OS, where no files get touched, and the manually installed packages that were installed auto-reinstall. I just used this install procedure to 'repair' my system, except I accidentally used the 11.04 install media (instead of 11.10) returning me to my then beloved 11.04 which still had ~8 months of supported life left (non-LTS was 15 months then, not 9 like today). There are complexities to this approach (esp. when going backwards, I was soon to discover!), but most of the time it works flawlessly.
This isn't an ideal fallback (backups are better; but my backups were weeks old by the time I decided I wanted to go back), but it maybe worth thinking about if you decide you don't like the newer release.