Video games are full of great quotes. Some are iconic and emotional, others meme-worthy. Polygon recently ranked the 100 best video game quotes and, despite it still being relatively new compared to other heavyweights on the list, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33<\/em> showed up twice. (Unfortunately, Maelle\u2019s \u201cPARRY IT!\u201d didn\u2019t make the cut.) One entry was for the expeditioners’ most notable motto, \u201cFor those who come after,\u201d and it perfectly reflects the spirit of the game and its themes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While Expedition 33<\/em> is a metatextual narrative heavily about grief and the creation of art, it\u2019s also about perseverance in the face of insurmountable odds, and that theme is so often reflected in its dialogue. Expeditioners are constantly saying \u201ctomorrow comes\u201d and \u201cwe continue\u201d like they\u2019re motivational sayings spotted on signs hung up at your local gym. They need to be continually reminded to persevere because no expedition has ever succeeded in its battle against The Paintress. Dozens of expeditions have left Lumi\u00e8re and never returned.<\/p>\n An early scene that perhaps encapsulates those themes finds Gustave encountering the piled-up corpses of past expeditions. It\u2019s immediately after his expedition is wiped out upon landing on The Continent, and he realizes that they were doomed from the start. Devastated, he puts a gun to his head.<\/p>\n Fellow expedition survivor Lune, whom players meet in the game\u2019s prologue, arrives just in time to save Gustave. Filled with despair, Gustave argues it\u2019s only a matter of time before they end up dead like the expeditioners around them. \u201cThis is not a foregone conclusion,\u201d Lune says. \u201c\u2018When one falls, we continue.\u2019\u201d She sets the tone for the rest of the game.<\/p>\n With just a few words \u2014 and the arrival of a Nevron to fight \u2014 Lune snaps Gustave back into focusing on the task at hand. They have a job to do, regardless of if they\u2019re the last two standing (at the time). Esquie may be the emotional rock of the group, but Lune is the fearless leader, and that\u2019s never more clear than when she has to spur Gustave on to persevere.<\/p>\n She throws the oath back at Gustave later on, when he wants to prioritize keeping Maelle alive over the mission to take down The Paintress. \u201cWhen<\/em> one falls, not if<\/em>,\u201d she exclaims. There\u2019s an acceptance of finality permeating through her dialogue; Lune knows she\u2019s not long for this realm, and that acceptance in the face of death helps her focus on the mission. It also helps her place others above herself as she knows nothing is more important than persevering in the fight against The Paintress.<\/p>\n The theme of soldiering on pairs well with Expedition 33<\/em>\u2019s focus on grief. To live with grief is to persevere, and that\u2019s reflected well in how the expedition carries on when (\u201cnot if<\/em>\u201d) Gustave falls at the end of Act One. Maelle, Lune, and the rest must push forward through the tragedy because \u201cthose who come after\u201d are counting on them.<\/p>\n Expedition 33<\/em>\u2019s mottos also apply to the players. Though it does have a very FromSoftware \u201cYou Died\u201d-coded message after your party is downed (\u201cExpedition Failed\u201d), you are given the option to send in your reserve duo. Just like how the expedition carries on no matter who it loses, you must carry on even when your A-team falters \u2014 and the game features plenty of boss battles they\u2019ll falter against. Sending in my backups helps reset my focus when continuing the fight, like how hearing \u201cwe continue\u201d helps reset Gustave\u2019s.<\/p>\n Poor Gustave didn\u2019t get to make it to the end and battle against The Paintress, but his fellow expeditioners \u2014 and the player \u2014 carried on and persevered in his stead.<\/p>\n ![\"100](\"https:\/\/static0.polygonimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/100-best-video-game-quotes-of-all-time-mario-v2.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=140&h=98&dpr=2\"\/)
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