Players take control of a roaming samurai who enters random battles on roads against bandits, help villagers, and enter into other scenarios which require skilled swordsmanship and samurai might. When the samurai enters a small town named Amahara, he discovers a tense situation where the yakuza are in the midst of a conflict with the local magistrate. The citizenry of Amahara are burdened by the aggressive yakuza while being yoked by a harsh magistrate who metes out punishment with ease. When our hero arrives, he tips the scales in favor of whomever he decides to work for - whether it be the yakuza, the law, or the regular folk. The aim of the game is to survive the skirmishes and conflicts that erupt for at least 10 days.

In the beginning, the masterless samurai (ronin) must befriend any of the three factions by performing menial labor and gradually ascending to more important tasks such as assassinations, deliveries, and other missions. The storyline changes depending on which party the ronin helps and thus turns the other sides against him. A total of 60 integral events are scattered throughout the game which affect the tide and turn of the tale.

Like all samurai games, fighting skills are important and traditional stances and techniques are featured in the game. Killing blows, double sword attacks and other fighting moves are recreated faithfully. A standard game of Samurai Michi 2 takes roughly 2-3 hours to finish and every adventure is ranked based on one's performance.