Joe Donnelly
Joe Donnelly is a sports editor from Glasgow and former features editor at 12DOVE. A mental health advocate, Joe has written about video games and mental health for The Guardian, New Statesman, VICE, PC Gamer and many more, and believes the interactive nature of video games makes them uniquely placed to educate and inform. His book Checkpoint considers the complex intersections of video games and mental health, and was shortlisted for Scotland's National Book of the Year for non-fiction in 2021. As familiar with the streets of Los Santos as he is the west of Scotland, Joe can often be found living his best and worst lives in GTA Online and its PC role-playing scene.
Latest articles by Joe Donnelly
As we stare down the Elden Ring DLC, I can't decide which of my all-time favorite builds to take into the RPG's Shadow of the Erdtree expansion
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | I'm juggling save files in the Lands Between and I'm terrified I'll make the wrong call
With Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Ninja Theory is learning from player feedback and past experience in its sustained push to challenge mental health stigma
By Joe Donnelly published
Interview Interview | How Hellblade 2 is building on the foundations laid by 2017's Senua's Sacrifice
Sometimes unashamedly riffing on the biggest genre hits works – just ask Nightghast, a creepy budget horror game in the vein of P.T., Resident Evil and Silent Hill
By Joe Donnelly published
Feature Indie Spotlight | Nightghast is short but sweet and proper unsettling
Rediscovering the 25-year-old console JRPG whose jaw-dropping CGI cutscenes I once considered the indisputable pinnacle of video game graphics
By Joe Donnelly published
OPINION Opinion | And the biggest question is: How could I possibly forget this bygone PS1 classic?
Elden Ring's DLC can only be reached from a very specific late game location – 13 years later, is this signature FromSoftware access method still practical?
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | Accessing added content has never been straightforward in FromSoftware's esteemed action RPGs, but is this a good or a bad thing?
Lego Fortnite is my new obsession, but I remain unconvinced it (or anything else) can ever match Minecraft's sense of wonder
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | I'm singing the same tune 13 years later, but this time it's through a new, more profound lens
I'm so obsessed with Elden Ring's twisted sickness cult that my family has banned me from talking about it at home
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | And it's only going to get worse when the action RPG's long-awaited Shadow of the Erdtree DLC lands later this year
20 years later, Half-Life 2 Deathmatch still my favorite online multiplayer FPS of all time
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | You can rip toilets from the wall and kill enemies with them. Enough said?
Holstin, the action horror game that lets you seamlessly flip between first and third person, showcases its latest terrifying trailer
By Joe Donnelly published
News Holstin looks positively ghastly in all of the right ways
Rise of the Ronin review: "A decent PS5 exclusive action RPG that's driven and hamstrung by its ambition"
By Joe Donnelly published
Review
I've fallen in love with Elden Ring's absolute worst area – just like I did with Dark Souls and Bloodborne
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | Areas I once hated in some of my favorite action RPGs are now places I relish
Rise of the Ronin sits somewhere between Assassin's Creed and Nioh, but the action RPG's rhythm combat took me back to a 27-year-old PS1 classic
By Joe Donnelly published
Hands-on Preview | Team Ninja's latest PS5 exclusive is the studio's most ambitious yet – can it pull off everything it hopes to achieve?
Trust me, you should totally play the latest GTA Online update like it's Metal Gear Solid
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | The Cluckin' Bell Farm Raid is best approached with a serious dash of Solid Snake
From Skyrim to Elden Ring and even Final Fantasy 7 – my favorite RPG magic spell has never once let me down
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | I get by with a little help from my (overpowered) friends
I never once thought of Dark Souls or Diablo when playing Moon Studios' previous games, but the dev's new action RPG feels like the perfect evolution of ideas and talent
By Joe Donnelly published
Preview Preview | Hands-on with No Rest for the Wicked, a game that wants to reinvent the ARPG genre
Final Fantasy 16's Clive and Cid actors discuss the importance of in-person chemistry when working on massive story-driven RPGs
By Joe Donnelly published
Interview Interview | Ben Starr and Ralph Ineson have a great rapport on and off-screen, but that may not have been the case in different circumstances
We're no closer to an exact GTA 6 release date, but is the incoming crime sim likely to follow its forerunners' end-of-year drops?
By Joe Donnelly published
GRAND THEFT AUTOSPY Grand Theft Autopsy | Every mainline GTA bar one has landed between September and November, is GTA 6 gunning for the same?
Starting a new GTA Online profile from scratch in public servers is more thrilling than chasing any open-world platinum trophy
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | Who knows what the future holds for GTA Online, but I'm taking the city by storm one griefer war at a time
As much as I'd love more, Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC should be the action RPG's curtain call
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | As FromSoftware seeks perfection, I reckon Miquella's story is the only one we need to see
After almost 400 hours with Elden Ring, I've found the action RPG's hardest enemy – an innocuous, random teleporting knight who you might have missed entirely
By Joe Donnelly published
Opinion Opinion | Just when I thought I was out, this random banished knight has pulled me back in
I've spent over 10 years trying (and failing) to beat this dungeon-crawling roguelike RPG that was made using cellphone internet data in a treehouse in the woods
By Joe Donnelly published
Now Playing Now Playing | Legend of Dungeon is the game I love to hate, hate to love, and couldn't imagine my life without
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