Originally posted by Polonius Ulf:

The food/strength/stamina system just makes you pay attention to what you eat and how you fight.

During a fight, you have to pay attention to stamina, creating time and space to take breathers.

You don't even need to take actual breathers. If you're rested and you pause for quite literally a fraction of a second between swings instead of button mashing, your stamina can be practically unlimited. The game punishes button mashing and failing to maintain a rested buff, but some people are convinced it's an unavoidable and inherent part of fighting or harvesting. I would be shocked if the vast majority of people who hate the stamina system aren't either mashing the attack button or holding it down, and I think if they recorded their gameplay they'd be surprised at how often they don't have a rested buff.