History Main / AwesomeButTemporary

** In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', protagonist Claude starts out with a powerful energy pistol that gives him access to a special attack that can casually one-shot pretty much every enemy you encounter at the start of the game. Come the first actual plot dungeon and it runs out of power, never to be recharged, mentioned or used again.

Compare GuestStarPartyMember. If you start the game with it, but lose it in the first act, that's ATasteOfPower. It might be that the part where you get it is remembered as the BestLevelEver. Not to be confused with LevelLockedLoot, which refers to [[LevelsAndExperienceTropes these]] kinds of levels.

* In ''VideoGame/Titanfall2'', in the campaign during your escape [[spoiler:with BT's SERE core]], you get to use [[spoiler:the Smart Pistol, which basically give you aimhacking and lets you kill anything in your way with just 1-2 shots by pointing your gun in their general direction.]] The whole sequence lasts less than 10 minutes.

*** Similarly to the previous installation (see above), Clavicus Vile asks you to retrieve a powerful axe and you are again forced to choose between said axe and his fancy mask. [[{{Subversion}} Subverted]] though since this time the axe isn't really that great (its damage is average, and it's a two-handed weapon so it's rather pointless to anyone not going with two-handed combat.)

** ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'' centers around a deadly game where the players compete over access to belt buckles which grant a variety of superpowers. By far the strongest buckle that can be found is Boost. Its combination of SuperSpeed, PlayingWithFire, ''and'' serving as an AmplifierArtifact for every other power means that whoever uses it can easily beat any enemy in the game, but as soon as the round is over it ejects violently from the user and flies away, requiring them to collect it again in a later round.

** ''Series/KamenRiderGeats'' centers around a deadly game where the players compete over access to belt buckles which grant a variety of superpowers. By far the strongest buckle that can be found is Boost, whose combination of SuperSpeed and PlayingWithFire can easily beat any enemy in the game, but as soon as the round is over it ejects violently from the user and flies away, requiring them to collect it again in a later round.

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', the entire playerbase passes around three unique glowing [[NiceHat hats]] every day -- The Gifting Man from Gifting Land, the Philateler, and the Dueler, each of which are given to the person who, the previous day, gave the most in-game gifts, supported map creators by buying the most Map Stamps, or won the most duels, respectively. Gifts, Stamps, and Duels are all bought with {{Microtransactions}}, but the hats are cool enough (and ostentatious enough) that they might be worth the cost... at least until you lose yours the next day.

* In the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' video game ''Yu-Gi-Oh: World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus'', you get three really powerful cards during the FinalBattle of the main storyline by a divine force, "Ally of Justice Decisive Armor", "Trident Dragion" and "Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier". But after you win the duel, you lose them. (You can gain them again later, however, by unlocking the appropriate packs in game store, but that is not possible until after the main storyline is completed.)

* ''Videogame/GodOfWarII'': during the attack on Rhodes, Zeus offers Kratos the Blade of Olympus, the literal InfinityPlusOneSword of the Greek era games. Unsurprisingly, Kratos makes a quick work of the Colossus of Rhodes with it, but [[spoiler: Zeus personally kills him immediately after this battle and takes back the sword]]. From there on, the sword remains unavailable throughout the game until the FinalBattle and the (non-canon) Bonus Game. This is also referenced in-game by Gaia, who tells Kratos that "Zeus, Olympus, and the blade which holds all [his] power will forever more be out of reach".

* ''Videogame/GodOfWarII'': during the attack on Rhodes, Zeus offers Kratos the Blade of Olympus, the literal InfinityPlusOneSword of the Greek era games. Unsurprisingly, Kratos makes a quick work of the Colossus of Rhodes with it, but [[spoiler: Zeus personally kills him immediately after this battle and takes back the sword]]. From there on, the sword remains unavailable throughout the game until the FinalBattle and the (non-canon) BonusGame. This is also referenced in-game by Gaia, who tells Kratos that "Zeus, Olympus, and the blade which holds all [his] power will forever more be out of reach".

** In the early module ''Castle Amber'', the party has to acquire "The Enchanted Sword of Sylaire" as part of a set of items in order to escape the realm of Averoigne where they've been trapped. Said sword is a sword +3,+5 vs undead and automatically (no save) slays any undead enemy on a roll of 18 or better on the d20 attack die with additional powers which puts it on the level of a minor artifact. The adventure is designed for levels 3-6 who will typically be packing +1 or at best +2 weapons with no special bonuses at that point. Unfortunately the ritual to escape has the side effect of shattering all the components including the sword into thousands of shards...

*** Near the end of the main quest of the ''Tribunal'' expansion, you find yourself fighting through (supposed BigBad) Sotha Sil's [[ClockPunk Clockwork City]]. It is populated by his semi-organic MechaMooks, the Fabricants. Each variety, the Verminous and Hulking, drop "elixers" which share their names. Verminous Fabricants are a dime-a-dozen, and even spawn infinitely at one point if you intentionally keep screwing up a puzzle. They drop Verminous Elixers, which temporarily fortify your Speed. Not bad, but not especially useful. Hulking Fabricants, however, are much less common. Hulking Elixers temporarily fortify your Strength, which is considerably more useful. However, in the Clockwork City's Dome of Udok, you'll encounter a "rusted lever" which requires 100 Strength in order to move, allowing you to advance. If you haven't been building up your Strength attribute (a common issue for Mage-type characters especially), you'll need to use virtually all of your Hulking Fabricant Elixers to surpass that total. (Worse still, if you haven't been picking them up, you can end up [[UnwinnableByMistake stuck in the Dome of Udok]].)

* ''VideoGame/40000SpaceMarine'': Several missions give you an infinite-fuel jetpack, unfortunately it runs out and falls off when the mission ends.

* In ''VideoGame/ThunderForce V'', when you reach Stage 5 you gain access to the Brigandine module, an attachment to a new ship you also get at the same time, the Vambrace. The Brigandine has infinte-use superweapons that can easily shred any non-boss enemy. However, it also has a LifeMeter, and once it runs out or you proceed to the next stage, it's gone and you have to go on in just the Vambrace.

** In the first of ''[[VideoGame/MakaiToshiSaGa Final Fantasy Legend]]'''s four worlds, you pick up a powerful sword that has ~50% chance of outright slaying any enemy with a weakness, a piece of armor that resists every element and has 2.5 times the power of the world's second best armor, and a shield that blocks every single attack when used. Naturally, you have to part with them to advance, and you don't find comparable equipment until at least the third world.

* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', the entire playerbase passes around three unique glowing [[NiceHat hats]] every day -- The Gifting Man from Gifting Land, the Philateler, and the Dueler, each of which are given to the person who, the previous day, gave the most in-game gifts, supported map creators with by buying the most Map Stamps, or won the most duels, respectively. Gifts, Stamps, and Duels are all bought with {{Microtransactions}}, but the hats are cool enough (and ostentatious enough) that they might be worth the cost... at least until you lose yours the next day.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Rayman 2}}'', Rayman at one point gains the ability to fly (rather than just glide down) with his HelicopterHair, but he loses it again just before that level's BossFight.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' has the Goomba's Shoe, an item that allows Mario to jump on enemies that would normally harm him, like Spinies, and safely move around on Munchers. However, the shoe can only be found in one level, and will disappear once Mario reaches the goal.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioMaker'', where the Goomba's Shoe (along with several new variants of it) can be placed in any level that uses the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' or ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' style.