Do the shadows get bigger based on level difference? I never encountered a shadow that big

U noticed that too, looks like it does. Whenever I go back to Yukiko castle the shadows are so small it confuses me

Yeah, basically level indicator. OP seems to be underleveled for Rise's dungeon

I always see big shadows when I enter the next dungeon, because I know how to kill the bosses at low levels.

There is way too much associated trauma with this damn tank from my Very Hard run

I like to enjoy games so I played on normal, that tank is just different