The only time this trope was used well.

>Game start
>You're presented 4 party members including your adoptive mother
>Shit is going down, mom says that I shouldn't hesitate to run from battle if necessary
>First two fights in the game, without the player so it's all automatic
>First fight the team wins easily
>Ted Broiler appears
>Burns all party members to death except the mom like it's nothing
>Now it's the player's turn
>Barely hit 1 dmg against Ted Broiler
>Attempt to run like mom suggested
>it works....
>but Ted Broiler catches up
>kills your mom
>leaves you for dead
>wake up after several weeks of recovery
>all 4 party members are dead, they're not coming back
>entire game is about getting revenge on this MOFO that literally fucked your mother up
>end game boss fight against him
>Hardest fight in the entire series
>even if you grind like a madman your characters deal 30 dmg per turn at best
>except Ted Broiler secretly has auto-regen and heals 100 HP per turn
You could think "I'm gonna get him little by little" and not even know you're not making any progress. They really didn't shy away on how strong he is supposed to be even when you are supposed to kill him.