Let's be honest, the melee combat in GTA sucks - bad. The main reason GTA seems to get away with such a flat-feeling sense of impact is there's no one out there willing to take them on. However 2013's Sleeping Dogs came mighty close - there's even an article on it that got people talking - as Square Enix's utilisation of the ancient True Crime: Streets of L.A. tech formed a solid foundation to throw in some slow-motion gun-battles and brutal Arkham-style combat into the mix. Also, do you remember unlocking a different fighting style across all of San Andreas' cities? Some people preferred the boxing combos that ended with a impactful haymaker, and others the karate stance - it was pretty stupid sure, but very fun. In addition to branching out your options this way, there needs to be far more environmental interaction. Let us take full advantage of the physics engine by having the option to throw people into everything from piles of garbage to walls and even each other, as well as taking a page from Sleeping Dogs' book and having some environmental-based 'finishers' of sorts depending on who you're playing as. Anything more than the basic punch, one-animation counter, repeat-to-defeat is preferable to what's been available so far.
