r/HotlineMiami

Something I'm not clear on (since it might just be something within the game rather than anything else) is the masks.

More than anything, their descriptions and their "personalities."

What do I mean by that?

Does Jacket really see them as other people or personalities of himself? Are the abilities mentioned real or just something within the game?

As I understand it, whether consciously or unconsciously, Jacket gives each mask a personality, a name, and so on. Perhaps to deal with guilt, or maybe his psyche is so devastated that simply putting on a mask awakens a kind of dissociative identity.

Or maybe he just finds it funny.

As for the abilities, well... I can understand that they're just a mechanic to add variety to the game, since some border on the supernatural, and as far as I could see, there isn't much supernatural in Hotline Miami.

I can understand why some only use certain weapons, as part of the story of when they're obtained, or as something Jacket does unconsciously. But other lines involve giving them almost superhuman abilities.

What do you think?