I definitely agree gameplay is where the art lies in games.

Unfortunately the screenshot did not evoke the intended feeling for me. This is one of the hard problems in game design; there is no "comfort zone". Except perhaps games like Minecraft (anyone who has played will know what I mean) It's very difficult to establish such emotions, otherwise every "gamer" will indiscriminately jump into danger. The majority of sidescrollers don't even have fall damage.

Of course, screenshots can be incredibly neutered representations of how a game feels while playing it. I hope you can pull it off... perhaps having a close-in view of the character as they approach the cliff, then a short cutscene slowly zooming out to reveal the depth of the cliff, and then the cat. But then, this is cinematography, not gameplay.

I'd love to give more critique like this, and/or be a beta tester, by the way. I work in game QA and play many, many, indie games.