I forget what game it was, but I came to a point in the game where there was just an insane difficulty spike. Like I literally could not progress, and I couldn't change difficulties without starting a new game.

Then I remembered I had these strong health potions I'd carried through most of the game. I burned through my entire stockpile but I made it! It felt like the devs were saying 'no, you idiot, we put those items in the game for a reason, use them!'