This game could have the most amazing gameplay and graphics, but if Raphael won't be included, it will always leave a bad taste in my mouth and I would never forgive Project Soul for that. Raphael isn't the most popular character, but he's no Rock when it comes to character polls and story relevance. Even Lizardman/Aeon and Astaroth placed lower in both the Facebook and Eventhubs polls. Would their excuse be that Raphael's story starts around SCII's time period? If so, then it wouldn't be fair to include other characters that joined the series from SCII onwards if they insist on focusing on SCI's story, which I always considered a stupid thing in the first place for a so called 'reboot'. This pisses me off.
As for Salia replacing Raphael, that would be an insult to both Raphael and their fanbase.