After playing some more:
The melee combat is a LOT better in ELEX 2 compared to ELEX 1. The problem with combat in ELEX was that it was horribly boring for an aRPG. The best approach for melee was to just block with your shield or weapon and then attack. Blocking with shields was completely OP to the point of being braindead (because shields blocked all damage AND worked at zero stamina), and blocking with a weapon was a bit more interesting but still involved just holding a button down for a while. And attacking had that stupid combo system, where to do any real damage you had to go through your combos, with each subsequent strike doing more damage, and then the final special attack doing the most. The special attack wasn't even feasible in most cases, cause by then the enemy would attack again, but the overall flow was terrible. Hold down shield/weapon, while enemy mindless strikes into it, then go through the same attack combo sequence, every single time. It was just ridiculously mindless and boring. And enemies were generally bullet sponges, so it took forever too.
In ELEX 2, you have a lot more interesting options. If you are into Dark Souls type combat (or Mount & Blade or whatever), just use timed blocking. When you have only a weapon equipped and no shield, you can hold block for a short period of time only, reminiscent of early Gothic combat. But if you time it well, just as the enemy is about to hit you, you stagger them, and the next attack drains their stamina to zero, and makes them fall down for a few seconds. You can then follow up with a power attack and take large chunks of their healthbar. And since enemies have different attack patterns, you have to learn when to time your block, so it's a lot of fun.
If you are not into that kind of active aRPG combat, get a shield. Unlike ELEX, shields only block partial damage (% goes up with quality and skill), so it doesn't fill like a cheating button. Also, while holding a shield, you can do quick sidestep dodges, instead of the silly roll dodge which puts you out of position. The sidestep dodge is much more efficient and lets you avoid power attacks while still remaining in position to react.
Enemies also don't seem to be nearly as bullet-spongy as in ELEX (at least early on). I am routinely taking on skull enemies above my level and while I die sometimes, I can kill them too, and quite quickly, instead of the near endless battles on low levels in ELEX.
So don't listen to Roxor on this, he is whining because he managed to exploit the AI with some bs move, who cares, play it the way it's intended to be played and you will have a lot more fun than with the ELEX combat.
