A lot of the people saying that are likely bugthestards coming from Elder Scrolls games like Oblivion & Skyrim, so they just don't understand Fallout.
None of these people will ever play classic Fallout & Fallout 2. And if they somehow end up trying them they won't even be able to figure out...
V.A.T.S tends to work best with energy weapons like the LAER & a high crit chance build, in my personal experience. For melee, wouldn't bother using V.A.T.S so much. DPS for melee outside of V.A.T.S will kill enemies quicker than what you'll get from even special attacks like "Unlabored...