Neutral creatures in Heroes of Might and Magic V.

You can play as all neutral creatures and even keep them in your hero's army, except for phoenixes. All elementals can be recruited at the Conflux (unfortunately, it's just a dwelling for creatures, not a castle) and kept in the hero's army for a "long time," and black knights will gladly join Marcel's army. I'm not even mentioning the possible map editor, but at least we can now play as each of the neutral creatures.