Faith indeed. It equally applies in the reverse direction in that we hope each iteration Capcom delivers is as good as the previous, if not better. Very little has changed from Gyakuten Saiban 2 in terms of mechanics and structure; most cases see you investigating the scene of the crime to find clues via the touch screen, and then further on using this evidence to prove your client's innocence in court. In addition there is the return of the health bar and Psyche-Lock features, and being able to present anything in the Court Record as evidence as need be.

That, by the process of deduction, means that what the game has to offer anew are the cases, characters and themes delivered therein, a conclusive assessment of which results in only one possible verdict; that Gyakuten Saiban 3 is the best game of the lot. Not only does it continue the development and rounding of the characters already known and loved (which means this is not the place to start playing; go and experience the other two first), but the cases this time not only hark back to those already played, but have a common thread running through, spanning many years.

This contiguous feature makes every case more relevant to its peers, rather than the previous more disparate nature of the other two games. By the end you will not only have experienced some quite emotional moments, but also realised and understood how everything fell into place and for what reasons things happened. Case five especially in point, whilst not as epic as the last case in GS1, or evil as the last case in GS2, is perhaps the finest piece of plotting, writing, reality bending and sacrifice in the series, and definitely a contender in the scheme of all videogames.

In another successful attempt to throw things into left-field, two of the cases are set in the past, with you controlling Mia Fey in her younger years. A chance to see just how things transpired and why all the destiny of case five came to a head. Nothing is always as it seems as an old friend also crosses sides to assist you at one point. Expect the unexpected at all times, and just as before, plenty of brain strain and outside-the-box thinking will be required to bring each to a successful conclusion.

The translation work is excellent, typos aside, and more so than ever before you truly feel part of the universe "created" within the game, and that it could really exist out there. The humour in the game is more subtle and less obvious this time (or maybe it's that you have to think about it), and occasionally requires previous knowledge. Whilst this may appear a detriment to use "in-jokes", it only enhances the laughter levels because you already know the characters so well. The range of pop culture targets is also cast far wider, with sly digs at certain Hollywood stars, a certain Kelis song, the film 300 and Star Trek amongst others.

This is also the introduction of the queen bitch from Hell, the single most conniving, vindictive, uncaring and heartless person ever to be rendered in the series, and maybe ever. All "bad people as pictured in videogames" tend to have a certain way about them, but this is pure, calculating misery on a totally different scale. On the opposite side of the coin sees the introduction of the new prosecutor Godot, someone on a mission of revenge to take you down. Whilst not as brutally dark as Damon Gant or Manfred von Karma, he is thoughtful and more clever, a tragic figure with a tragic past that by the end of the game will make you genuinely sad for him.

The characterisation work of these two exemplify the love and sheer dedication Capcom put into scripting the game, to make everyone that you encounter appear living and three dimensional, not some stereotypical entity as flat as the sprites on screen. For those characters already established, the game is not without throwing the odd spanner into the works, suddenly exposing a new side that was not known before. These people are "human", in the closest sense of the phrase you can get for a game, with foibles, weaknesses and traits we all can recognise.

Before the game was even booted for the first time, there was a certain amount of trepidation and sadness in the heart. Not for what lay ahead in experience terms - a glorious finale and plenty of laughs along the way - but instead for the simple knowledge that by the time the game wrapped itself up, this would be it. This was the last time that most of the characters would continue to be "alive" in front of us. For this to manifest itself can only mean there has been such a unique, emotional connection made between player and game. That is the legacy of Gyakuten Saiban, that is why everyone should play it once in their lives.