Resident Evil 4 difficulty level

[JetSetWilly]

Is it possible to change the difficulty level in Resident Evil 4 when you opt to play through the game again using a completed save file so that you have all your weapons and money?

If I do the following:

1. Start.
2. Select "Professional"
3. Once in the game, hit Start and select Load.
4. Load my save file that I cleared on "Normal"
5. I restart the game with all my weapons etc, but when I save the difficulty is still Normal.

Am I missing something, or are you stuck with the same difficulty level forever when playing through a cleared game?

[Hudsoo]

after clearing the game for the first time, you unlock professional mode, upon selecting your cleared game in the load game menu, you can choose whether you wear normal or special costume but you can not change the difficulty to professional, you have to start a new game to play under professional with the bare basics at the start like normal mode

[JetSetWilly]

I figured as much but thought I would ask anyway. Thanks for responding.