Disciples II. This turn-based strategy game came out in January of 2002, about three years after the series made their unassuming debut with first game (which was roughly the same thing, except for the different set of "missions" and a few lacking details).
Where do I start? First of all, it's not your average fantasy. The universe of this masterpiece, a small world called Nevendaar, is a spiritual place where metaphors, religion and a depressing feel of ongoing catastrophe are being used to create a viscous mass of warfare that you're being dragged into once you leave the briefing screen. The graphical style is what really makes Disciples stand out from other games of its era. I would describe it as a mix of Gothic, Renaissance and Psychedelic, all at the same time. Here are some of the arts that are actually being used in-game:
http://nevendaar.com/_ph/55/783019290.jpg,
http://gameswalls.com/wallpapers/d/disciples-2-dark-prophecy/disciples-2-1.jpg.
The mechanics are somewhat similar to what you have seen in Might & Magic Heroes series, but everything changes when you enter a battlefield. Your "army" is nothing but a company of 2-3 specialists of your choice, and that's all you will have unless you hire another champion or train your primary one to become able of leading two extra warriors (mages, archers, or supports). They will start as weak, fragile glass cannons, but in a matter of hundreds of battles won (and up to 4 upgrades unlocked) you will turn them into death machines. Of course, there's a lot of ways to do this, depending on what kind of player you are and what you would like your army to look like. So, at the begging of every game you hire a fanatic with a sword that is willing to fight for your goddess, and in course of 80 in-game global turns you "convert" him to a phantom which spine was partially replaced with a steering wheel. And yes, there would be an explanation for that, right under his "profile picture". Same goes to a small wild dragon that will rot to the point when he starts looking like this:
http://gameswalls.com/wallpapers/d/disciples-2-dark-prophecy/disciples-ii-1.jpg. And it has still two transformations to go through.
Well, enough with my attempts to describe this fantastic game, just grab it ("Rise of the Elves" is the most complete edition) on Steam and try for yourself, it works well on Windows 8.1 (just turn on Compatibility mode and Direct3D in Configuration utility). I promise you, it's
that good. Especially the Sagas.