Will we ever be able to visually observe exoplanets

Currently we have the Kepler program (among others) that detects the presence of exoplanets (planets around other stars, other than our own sun). However, currently we have no way of observing the planets directly (i.e. by looking into a telescope and seeing the planet's surface).

My question is: what are the current limitations that keep us from visually observing exoplanets? How do we overcome this limitation? If we overcome this limitation, what other challenges will we have? How sharp will the resolution be? If we overcome the technical challenges, will it be possible to look into a telescope and actually see the surface of an exoplanet? i.e. in the search for extraterrestrial life?

There's formula in optics that you can look up, that relates
the resolution of a telescope to the size of it's aperture, and the
wavelength(s) of the light being gathered.
To observe any details at the distances involved a really huge
aperture is required, so, - NO.
We have to resort to 'tricks' like 'long baseline interferometry', creating
a 'false aperture' miles wide, to even 'image' the discs of some of the closer ones.

Yes, some have been observed, but they were definitely not "earth-like exoplanets"

Things that limit visibility of explanets include:
Brightness of the host star
Extreme distance meaning very tiny angular separation between exoplanet and host star
The physical laws of optics that produce diffraction, which limits ability to separate two close, distant objects visually.

Given the size and distances involved, from the vicinity of Earth it will be very difficult if ever possible to overcome these limits.

Probably, but even then you wouldn't be seeing an exoplanet as it is in real time (at the same time as the observer) because of the speed of light. If we have telescopes in space at the distance of Pluto's orbit and used interferometry, the telescopes "digital mirror" diameter would be the width Pluto's orbit.