The Genshin Impact Baked Apple Pie and Deluxe McCrispy Meal are only available via the McDonald’s app (U.S. only) until Sept. 29, 2024, so be sure to get it in time to receive the exclusive in-game rewards. 

I purchased the Deluxe Meal, and thankfully, it came with the Apple Pie with proper Genshin Impact branding. If your pie came in a plain box, you can ask a McDonald’s staff member to find the right packaging.

Twenty-four hours later, I received an email with two codes to redeem in-game for the coveted “Wings of Delicacies” Wind Glider (which are basically Lyney wings and from previous Genshin x KFC collabs in China). The codes came with other goodies, too, but I only cared about the Wind Glider, the Name Card, and the 40 Primogems.

Travelers have experienced issues with delayed redemption codes, though, so if you’re one of the affected, view their Facebook post on how they’re addressing it.

Genshin x McDonald’s LAN Party in Los Angeles, CA

Beido temporarily traded her pirate ship for a red open-top vintage Mustang to stop by McDonald’s with Kazuha to get some tasty apple pie and savory foods. Lucky Travelers in Los Angeles got to meet them in person!

The two-day offsite event was held at SV Studios and was open to the public, with easy reservations made through OpenTable. Nerd Reactor attended and stepped into the world of Inazuma, complete with a Statue of the Seven.

You’re greeted with a piping hot Baked Apple Pie and a sweet McD x Genshin tote bag filled with swag. 

Next, meet Beido and Kazuha, each in their respective in-game outfits and the promotional McDonald “streetwear” outfit. HoYoverse, when are we getting these streetwear skins in-game?

With an actual McDonald’s so close to the event location, Travelers received unlimited chicken nuggets, french fries, and apple pie meals with Sprite to fuel their adventures.

Since it was a LAN party, they even created an “Apple Pie Warmer” prototype that uses the excess heat generated from Genshin PC gaming to keep a Baked Apple pie fresh and warm. Too extra? Yes. Silly fun idea? Also, yes.

Gaming stations were set up so Travelers could experience “whaled” accounts of a full C6 R5 roster. As a 3-year player, I didn’t even reach “dolphin” status, so seeing what a gacha whale account could look like was fun. 

Twitch streamer and YouTuber Tuonto also got some screen time on the big screen, where he attempted to C2 the new character Kinich. 

After losing to a Dehya (we all felt the pain), he took out a credit card to replenish his Primos so he could pull again and score. After successfully getting the pixel boi twice, Tuonto did a Spiral Abyss showcase to a live crowd with his *cough* C6 Chlorinde.

Nerd Reactor had a great time at the Genshin x McDonald’s LAN party and is excited to see more Hoyoverse collaborations with brands and off-site events outside of conventions. 

Here’s what we got in the swag bag, but we noticed other Travelers received some other products, like keychains and different post cards.

• McD x Genshin tote bag with the 7 elements
• McD x Genshin lanyard
• Teyvat license plate mousepad
• Kachina badge button
• Mualani, Kinich, and Kachina PVC photo card
• Greetings from Teyvat postcard
• Sprite blue-block glasses
• McD x Genshin name card designed notebook

Look for the Genshin Impact meal and dessert in your McDonald’s app (U.S. only) until Sept. 29, 2024, to get exclusive in-game rewards. Genshin Impact can be played on multiple platforms, including iOS, Android, PlayStation 4/5, and Windows. Playability on Xbox Series X/S is coming in November 2024. 

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Here’s a quick look at their World Tour schedule if you happen to be at these locations:

• July 1-4, 2023: Anime Expo 2023 (Los Angeles)
• July 13-16, 2023: Japan Expo 2023 (Paris)
• July 27-31, 2023: Gamers Con 2023 (Taipei)
• August 23-27, 2023: Gamescom 2023 (Cologne)
• September 21-24, 2023: Tokyo Game Show 2023 (Tokyo)

At Anime Expo, I spent time specifically at the Genshin Impact and the Honkai: Star Rail sections of their 4-game booth on a less crowded weekday (Monday). As a 2+ year Genshin and HSR player since almost launch, I was most excited about these two games and not so much for Honkai Impact 3rd or Zenless Zone Zero.

Once you enter the Entertainment Hall, you can’t miss it as it’s the first booth you encounter!

Taking Part in Paimon’s Food Fest at the Genshin Impact Booth

You step into Liyue at the Genshin Impact booth, and Katheryne is appropriately waiting to answer any Traveler’s questions at the Adventurers’ Guild information desk. She even has the appropriate folded hands pose! I went there first to see how the mini-events worked and how to obtain SWAG.

Since they focused on the Liyue region, it only makes sense that their events revolved around food, so the theme was “Paimon’s Food Fest” since she’s always hungry and claims she’s not emergency food. 

Exclusive freebie swag included slightly puffy chibi character stickers and drooling Paimon balloons. Here’s a look at all the stickers you could get:

To get them, you could participate in two activities. I participated in transforming into Foodie Paimon. Here’s what it looked like:

The staff member manning the Paimon picture activity didn’t have my coveted Zhongli or Kazuha sticker, so I got a Childe one instead. However, you could take it to Katheryne and she could trade it out for a sticker you DO want (while supplies lasted), which is how I achieved getting Zhongli. 

To get the drooling Paimon balloon, you only had to take a picture at Liyue Harbor, which included Ninguang and Shenhe at the time. Since I didn’t like the angle of my picture, here’s an official group photo of the others:

Their longest line was the official merchandise area, which included acrylic character stands, character badges/button pins, and more. The other activity to get stickers was a food quiz called Teyvat Cook-Off Challenge. Travelers randomly flipped a panel on the Delicacies Wall to reveal a picture of in-game food and had to answer correctly what region it originated from. 

More Genshin Impact Sightings

Aside from their official booth, plenty of Genshin Impact cosplayers and other merchandise can be seen on the show floor and outside Anime Expo. 

Exploring the Honkai: Star Rail Booth

HoYoverse’s space fantasy turn-based RPG recently launched at the end of April and had a major presence at Anime Expo. This was also where I successfully got more swag since they seemed to have more options.

Set in the region of Xianzhou Luofu, Trailblazers will find themselves in the Central Starskiff Haven area under the red bridge. There was a stage where hosts dressed up as March 7th and soon-to-be-released Kafka held Memory of Chaos speed run competitions.

Volunteers from the crowd got chosen to get up on stage to participate in speed runs of Memory of Chaos stages 13 and 14. Once the hosts said, “Go!” Trailblazers got to pick their teams to try and beat the stages the fastest. Since laptops were used in the competition, it was a disadvantage to Trailblazers who play mobile (like myself). But the winner and the defeated both got prizes, so getting up on stage for potential humiliation wasn’t a total loss. The winner got a cool-looking JingYuan box (does anyone know what’s in it?), and the defeated Traveler got a large acrylic stand which also looked very cool. 

Exclusive booth freebies included character fans, a “passport” with the Honkai: Star Rail World Tour 2023 stamp, a Wubaboo balloon, various character stickers, and a postcard.

Honkai: Star Rail in the South Hall Lobby

There was more Honkai: Star Rail exposure at the South Hall Lobby floor with a photo opp area with the Astral Express train. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see their official PomPom mascot posing with it, so here’s what it would’ve looked like, along with someone cosplaying as the next character release, Blade. 

While Anime Expo 2023 may be over, stay tuned for more anime goodness at Anime Expo chibi on November 11-12, 2023, in Ontario, California, focusing on an Exhibit Hall and Artist Alley. Anime Expo 2024 will come back next July 4th weekend as usual.

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There’s so much going on at the 4-day expo that it can get overwhelming, but you know you’ll have an amazing time regardless, even if it’s your first time!

I haven’t participated in Anime Expo since 2019, so I’m excited to get back into the swing of things and walk into that crowded lobby full of incredible cosplayers. Of course, it wouldn’t be AX without spending money on merch, so here are a few things I’m personally looking forward to.

HoYoverse Games Events & Booths

I’ve been an active Genshin Impact mobile game player for over 2 years, tapping my way through the open-world action RPG.

Genshin (pronounced with a hard G, so none of that “Jenshin” nonsense) will be setting up a Liyue-themed booth at Entertainment Hall #E8 for Paimon’s Food Fest and showcasing official products (no merch menu yet) along with exclusive chibi stickers and balloons.

A Liyue booth also means a standee cutout of Zhongli, my in-game husband, as I’ve repeatedly declared to my real husband. Obviously, I have to take a picture with the standee and attempt to get the exclusive sticker.

Genshin Impact will also have a Pixiv collaboration booth at Exhibit Hall #4506 with special concept art and actual fan art that HoYoverse deemed worthy of displaying!

HoyoVerse’s newest title, Honkai: Star Rail, is a space fantasy RPG that I’ve been playing for the past month. It’s a turn-based strategy game, but the core game aspects are similar to Genshin Impact. This game is a lot easier on my hands to play as a mobile user.

HSR will also be in the same area but their booth will be designed to feel like you’re in Xianzho Luofu in-game, a.k.a. “space China.” Expect to see Conductor Pom-Pom of the Astral Express along with meeting Connor @CDawgVA, Garnt @GiggukZA (both from the Trash Taste Podcast) along with Emi @Emirichu, and Sydney @Sydsnap on stage on the first day of Anime Expo 2023.

Artist Alley & the Annex

It’s not Anime Expo without the massive Artist Alley featuring 550+ talented artists baring their creative souls. Let’s appreciate the non-AI art, right?

While it can get extremely crowded, I’m definitely making a stop at Haiyunee (@haiyunee | Booth A28) for her new HSR train ticket stickers, as well as Asia Ladowska (@ladowska | Booth G49) to admire new prints. Hopefully, ventilation has been improved in that hall this year!

Next to Artist Alley is The Annex, which is a new-ish concept space (it debuted in 2018) designed to showcase cutting-edge fashion, art, and live art, along with unique experiences. On my list to check out (and potentially buy from) are the following artists:

Art of Josey Tsao (@joseytsao | Booth ANX411)
Bryce Kho Draws (@brycekhodraws | Booth ANX300)
Ukiyo-e Heroes (@thejedhenry | Booth ANX421)

Crunchyroll & Aniplex Panel Events

While I won’t be able to attend these particular panels, I’m still hyped for them and want to share in case you can make it:

Spy x Family Panel featuring Takuya Eguchi hosted by Crunchyroll
Main Events Hall, July 1, 5:00 PM

Join the Japanese VA of Loid Forger to discuss Spy x Family and potentially the movie coming out end of this year.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Special Event presented by Aniplex
Main Events Hall, July 2, 4:30 PM

The panel talks about the just-ended Swordsmith Village arc.

Jujutsu Kaisen Panel presented by Crunchroll
Main Events Hall, July 2, 3:00 PM

Join the Jujutsu team, where they discuss what it’s like to work on the show and the anticipated second season that’ll release on July 6th!

Those are what I’m looking forward to, and maybe you’ve gotten some additional ideas to add to your list! Anime Expo 2023 will take place July 1 – July 4, 2023, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. They’ll also host Anime Expo Chibi in November 2023, in Ontario, CA! Just as the “chibi” moniker suggests, it’ll be a smaller event that focuses on an Exhibit Hall & Artist Alley.

The post Take My Money, Anime Expo 2023: Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Artist Alley & More appeared first on Nerd Reactor.