Is it normal that melees completely empty your gauge? It's very annoying having to wait for it to recharge just because I pressed F on a dude on my face every single time. Discouraged to ever use melee tbh, I'll just continue shooting my gun even if an enemy is on my face at this point.
Melee moves in this game are more like special moves to be used situationally for their unique properties, rather than something you do whenever you're at close range. They're a bit more of an advanced thing because you have to understand their properties and when to use them. It's probably pretty normal to not use them much until you get to a certain level of skill with the game.