I specifically like JamesBlack47's proposition of melee being a one-hit kill special death animation like in DOOM, that way every weapon has viability and is essentially just for aesthetics (besides taking into consideration concealment and killing speed). I understand man-power for animation is a concern, but most animations, depending on class of weapon (i.e. knife, machete, sword) could just be reused. I understand also that this is massively underestimating the work required for satisfactory, tight animations in gameplay use. I think this is necessary for making melee playable though. As it is, they are purely aesthetic, but massively imbalanced, and for the most part, excusing a few sounds (like that sexy fire poker clang sound), the weapons are unsatisfying to use. They feel too airy. Take for example, El Verdugo. You're hitting a cop with a friggin powerful machete, I expect big, strong swings with emotion, but as it stands, it feels like you're just smacking them with a toy foam sword, and it's futile. I legitimately believe that this change, would completely shake up the gameplay for me, and I'd easily sink hundreds more hours into this game just messing around with all different combinations of using these.