any upgrade or update can 'break' something.
mint does have an upgrade path from one major version to the next. the upgrade tool might not be available immediately upon the release of the next version, but in your case it has been around awhile.
https://linuxmint-user-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/upgrade-to-mint-22.html
backups are, of course, your responsibility, as is any unexpected manual customizations or software added from outside mint repositories.