All Scars and Starlight

I’m on my third Yuel/Tavi VN! The boys are back, in a story with choices. Which low-key terrified me due to my notoriously poor play skills. Yet, for the first time ever, I got the happy ending on the first try??? Whoa!!! Every time there was a choice, I asked myself “What would THaTH!Tavi do?” and this mentality did not steer me wrong. [i]All Scars and Starlight[/i] is a second spin off AU from [i]All Ashes and Illusions[/i] and the final entry in the All trilogy. This time Tavi succeeded in his rebellion, deposed Yuel, and hid his cousin away in the Middle Eastern fantasy version of the cold palace, (or like a Gothic spouse in an attic if that’s your genre du jour). While [i]All Idleness and Ephemera[/i] was a pleasant standalone read, [i]All Scars and Starlight[/i] pretty much requires playing or looking up a plot summary of [i]All Ashes and Illusions[/i]. Otherwise you’ll spend a majority of the story going “Yuel did WHAT?” hahaha Being a longer game with branching paths, [i]All Scars and Starlight[/i] has more plot and goes more in depth with the setting than its immediate predecessor. It’s in this review that I’ll admit what held me back from devouring Yuel/Tavi stories…

This is such a beautiful, sickeningly tragic story. The visuals are equally stunning, and the bonus chapter has some of the best writing I've seen in the genre, period. If the themes at all interest you, you owe it to yourself to play this.

A dark, beautiful, excellently written story that left my heart aching. These two are so precious and so very doomed and if you enjoy an angsty read you will absolutely love this. The characters are very engaging and tragically flawed, and the story keeps up a good tension and I was on the edge of my seat throughout. The artwork is beautiful and expressive and it is never dull to look at. I have not read Ashes but I did not feel like it hindered my enjoyment at all- the narrative does a great job of explaining the pertinent beats from that story without feeling like it's dumping exposition on you at any point. All in all, highly recommended if you are looking for an angsty, tragic romance(?) between two deeply flawed and damaged people.

I really like the premise of this being and AU of Ashes where the rebellion succeeds. Reading from Tavi's POV is interesting as well! Overall very sad and angsty. Reading about Yuel recognizing the full scope of what he did in Ashes and having to sit with that is a really interesting way to explore his character. Onto the DLC, which I'm interested to see how things work out. Still fairly new to Yuel/Tavi, but I'm really enjoying seeing how their dynamic changes in different settings.

I'm obsessed with the story, love Yuel

i like yuel and tavi, and with the dlc there is even more angst