Resident Evil 4 Remake Professional S+ Rank Guide

To earn S+ on Professional in Resident Evil 4 Remake, you must finish the main story on a fresh New Game (not New Game Plus) in under 5 hours and 30 minutes while using no more than 15 manual saves. Time and save count are the only things graded; kills, accuracy and deaths do not matter except for the time they cost. The practical route is to unlock the Chicago Sweeper, Ashley's Armor and the Chicken Hat on earlier runs, then carry them into the attempt.

We confirmed the limits and strategy against Game8's S+ rank, Professional S+ and save point guides, Push Square's rank table, Gamer Guides' ranking breakdown and PowerPyx's trophy roadmap in November 2026.

The Rules for Professional S+

Every source we checked agrees on the core numbers. Game8 and Push Square both list the Professional S+ cutoff as 5 hours 30 minutes with a 15 save cap, and Gamer Guides adds that Professional has no autosaves, so every checkpoint you rely on is one of those 15.

Completion rank cutoffs by difficulty (Game8 and Push Square, November 2026)

Rank	Assisted	Standard	Hardcore	Professional
S+	4:00:00	5:00:00	5:30:00	5:30:00, max 15 saves
S	4:00:00	5:00:00	5:30:00	5:30:00
A	15:00:00	12:00:00	10:00:00	7:00:00

Three rules catch people out. First, S+ is New Game only; a New Game Plus clear can earn an S or A, never S+. Second, bonus weapons and accessories are allowed. Game8 confirms that the Chicago Sweeper, Handcannon and Primal Knife, along with accessories like the Chicken Hat and Gas Mask, can all be used on a fresh New Game without affecting the rank. Third, Professional itself plays differently: Game8 lists Hardcore level enemies, no autosaves and parries limited to perfect parries, and it notes that exclusive weapon upgrades are available from the very start on this difficulty.

Unlocks to Earn Before the Attempt

You can attempt Professional S+ on your second playthrough, but almost nobody should. Game8's Professional S+ guide lays out a preparation chain, and PowerPyx's roadmap follows the same logic:

1. Clear the story once on any difficulty. This unlocks Professional, and Game8 suggests Assisted for cheaper Merchant prices while you stockpile pesetas.
2. Clear Professional on New Game Plus with an A rank (under 7 hours). With your carried over arsenal, and ideally the Infinite Rocket Launcher, this unlocks the Chicago Sweeper. Game8 adds that it unlocks the Armor costume that makes Ashley invulnerable and impossible to carry away.
3. Get S+ on Hardcore on a fresh save (under 5 hours 30 minutes, no save limit). The reward is the Chicken Hat, which greatly reduces damage taken.
4. Run Professional on a fresh save with the Sweeper, Armor and Chicken Hat.

The Hardcore run doubles as a rehearsal: the time limit is identical, the enemies are the same, and the only difference is that you can save as often as you like. If you cannot finish Hardcore in time, Professional will not go better. If you want an infinite ammo weapon even sooner, the Handcannon from The Mercenaries is an alternative; our infinite ammo guide compares both routes.

Spinels, Tickets and the Weapon Plan

The single biggest time saver is unlimited ammo from the middle of the run onward. Game8's plan is to pull the Chicago Sweeper out of the first typewriter's storage, finish the Village Merchant requests until you have 30 Spinels, and trade them for an Exclusive Upgrade Ticket at the first Castle Merchant. Applying the ticket to the Sweeper unlocks its unlimited ammo perk immediately. PowerPyx counts 31 Spinels available across the Village requests, so you need to clear nearly all of them.

That makes the blue request notes in the Village mandatory rather than optional, which is the main exception to the usual speed run rule of skipping side content. Plan their routes in advance so each one costs as little time as possible. Game8 also recommends buying the Sweeper's regular power upgrades as money allows, since boss fights drag on when your gun is underpowered.

For bosses, PowerPyx's advice is to save enough pesetas for two regular Rocket Launchers, one before the Salazar fight and one before Saddler, because a rocket ends those fights almost instantly. Paid Exclusive Upgrade Ticket add-ons are another lever: PowerPyx notes that owning one lets you apply the upgrade at the first Merchant in Chapter 2 instead of waiting for the Castle.

Pace Targets for the Village, Castle and Island

A single 5 hour 30 minute budget is hard to track, so split it the way Game8's Professional guide does: finish the Village chapters in about 1 hour 30 minutes, the Castle in about 2 hours, and the Island in about 1 hour 45 minutes. That adds up to 5 hours 15 minutes and leaves a quarter hour of slack for mistakes. Check the clock at each region change; if the Village ran long, you know to skip optional fights in the Castle.

A few region specific notes from the same guide are worth building into your route:

• Village. Free the dog from the bear trap in Chapter 3, since it helps during the El Gigante fight in Chapter 4. In Chapter 6, Game8 swaps the W-870 for the Riot Gun and spends the remaining pesetas on its power before the Chainsaw Sisters.
• Castle. Ticket the Sweeper in Chapter 7, then buy the Stingray and a scope for the Water Hall, where you must cover Ashley from range. Verdugo in Chapter 10 does not have to die; the liquid nitrogen levers can freeze him repeatedly until the elevator arrives.
• Island. Start stockpiling Heavy Grenades in Chapter 14. Game8 budgets five: two for the wrecking ball wall in Chapter 14 and three for the anti aircraft gun in Chapter 15.

Timer Rules and How Not to Waste Minutes

The in game clock is what gets graded, so learn exactly what moves it.

• Pause freely. All sources agree the pause menu stops the timer, so plan routes and catch your breath there.
• Treat menus as live time. Here the guides disagree. Game8's general S+ page says the inventory, map, Merchant and typewriter screens also stop the timer, while Game8's own Professional S+ guide and PowerPyx say the inventory and Merchant keep it running. Assume they count and keep menu visits short.
• Never press Continue after a death. PowerPyx explains that deaths add to your total time. Quit to the main menu from the Game Over screen and load your last save from there, which resets the clock to the time recorded in that save.
• Skip cutscenes and radio calls. Game8 points out that Leon walks slowly and cannot interact during comms with Hunnigan, so skip them the moment they start.
• Ignore collectibles and files that are not on your route, and avoid fights you can run past.
• Consider the Striker charm. It adds 8 percent running speed. Game8 calls the shooting range optional, but this charm is the one worth chasing if you are confident of an S score on the first try.

Puzzle answers also change on Professional, including the clock time (7:00 instead of 11:04) and the Stone Pedestal rotations. Keep our puzzle solutions by difficulty open so you never test a Standard answer on Professional.

Where to Spend Your 15 Saves

With no autosaves, the save cap is really a checkpoint budget. Game8's recommended layout spends them on the moments most likely to kill you:

1. After Del Lago (Chapter 4)
2. After retrieving Ashley from the church (Chapter 5)
3. Before the Chainsaw Sisters (Chapter 6)
4. Before Mendez (Chapter 6)
5. Before the Water Hall (Chapter 7)
6. After the armored El Gigante (Chapter 8)
7. Start of Chapter 10, after Ashley's section
8. Before Verdugo (Chapter 10)
9. Before the minecart (Chapter 11)
10. Before the first Krauser fight (Chapter 11)
11. Before Salazar (Chapter 12)
12. Start of Chapter 14, after the Regenerator section
13. Before the transformed Krauser (Chapter 14)
14. End of Chapter 15
15. Before Saddler (Chapter 16)

Game8 also suggests saving right after big upgrades such as the Sweeper's ticket, which you can do by swapping out a less dangerous checkpoint. Notice that the list spends nothing on Chapters 1 to 3, so play the opening carefully. If you do burn extra saves early, cut from the middle of the Castle rather than from the boss fights.

What You Get for It

Finishing Professional with S+ unlocks the Cat Ears in the Extra Content Shop for 3,000 CP. They let every weapon except the regular Rocket Launcher reload without consuming ammo from your case. The matching in game challenge, which Game8 lists as Leon "S+" Kennedy, pays 3,000 CP on its own. PowerPyx also notes that a Professional S+ clear unlocks the Hardcore S+ and Standard S+ trophies at the same time, the only case where those S+ trophies stack. The full reward list is in our unlockables and Extra Content Shop guide, and the weapons worth upgrading along the way are in our best weapons ranking.

Separate Ways has its own, shorter version of this challenge: PowerPyx lists Ada's Professional S+ at under 2 hours 30 minutes with 10 or fewer saves, also on a New Game.

Want Professional Without the Pressure?

Not everyone wants to spend four playthroughs earning a hat. If you would rather enjoy Professional as a sandbox, the store's Resident Evil 4 Remake modded save includes a Professional slot at Chapter 2 with an unlimited Rocket Launcher, 999 Exclusive Tickets and 9,999 First Aid Sprays, plus 10,000,000 Completion Points. To be clear, the S+ rank is judged on your own run's clock, so this is a way to play Professional with the stress removed rather than a way to earn the rank.

The save is for PS4 and PS5 only, works only with the Remake, needs active PlayStation Plus on the same account, and does not include the game. Browse everything for the game on the Resident Evil 4 Remake hub.

Frequently Asked Questions