All those old games were so punishingly hard

You’d play leisure suit Larry or whatever and get 3/4 of the way through and get stuck. Then you’d check a walkthrough and realize you didn’t check the trash can on the first screen of the game for a key item and now you’re fucked and literally have to start over from the beginning

Or you’d get to a death condition and get a screen that just mocks you: remember to save early and save often!