The game I'm designing will be mainly written in a high level scripting language (leaning towards either Lua or Squirrel) with a C++ core. In addition to scripts I'm also going to need different data files. Many data files will be for static information such as graphical assets and monster types. I'd also want to create and update data files at runtime for user information like option settings and game saves.

Can I get away with using plain script files (i.e. .lua or .nut files) for my data files, or is it better to use dedicated markup formats like XML or YAML?

If I use script files, loaded separately from my true scripts, then I wouldn't need an extra library to read those files. Scripting languages like Lua also have table syntax that lend themselves towards data definition. On the other hand I'd have to write my own schema check code. These languages also don't seem to support serialization "out of the box" like the markup format libraries do.